Wings in the Sky
by Kalira423
Summary: The Illusionist has a new plan up his sleeve and it's up to Ryo and the others to stop him. Along the way they meet some new friends who take a more personal interest in the Ronins.
1. prolouge

Disclaimer: You know I'm sure that it is pretty obvious that I don't own Ronin Warriors (except Ryo hehehe he's mine! ^_^) Just kidding.  I also got some of the names from a book called Crown Duel ( good book you people should go read it) so those aren't mine either but all original characters are. Anyway, now that I am done stating the obvious. Enjoy the story. 

Author's note- 

            Yes, I have decided to continue on with the Ryo/Sakura series. Why you may ask. Well, you readers seem to like it and well I personally like writing them. I just love Ryo! Like that isn't obvious. Anyway, this is pretty much the continuation of A Key to the Past, but I just decided to make it whole nother story in itself. So if you haven't read any of the other stories before this one, I suggest you do or else you won't know what the heck is going on or who they heck anyone is! So enjoy and be sure to review. It really makes my day and gives me motivation to update faster. You would all like that won't you? So anyway here goes the 5th in the Ryo/Sakura series, including a Rowen/OC and  a bit of Sage/Alanna on the side. And yes the chapters will be longer than this, but it's just a prologue. 

 Wings in the Sky

Prologue

The Illusionist fingered the red diamond shaped gem fondly in his hands. Yes, Seriyu had come through with his end of the bargain they had made. He got Sakura to open the door, and Seriyu would give him whatever he wanted. True to his word he did, although he did die in the process. The Illusionist smiled evilly. He knew that what was behind that door the entire time, he also knew that that shadowrunner only listened to Talpa and that once he was released would cause mass destruction, and without Talpa to control it then who knew what would happen. 

_'Too bad you had to die, Seriyu'_ he thought in mock pity. _'I could have still used you, but no matter. I can still achieve my ends, and that is all that matters to me.'_

Hearing the sound of footsteps, The Illusionist looked up to see a woman, who looked to be in her twenties, with dark hair standing before him. The woman's raven colored haired that was in a ponytail reached to her waist. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue that matched the color of a tiny mark on her left shoulder. The mark was a circle surrounding the letter M. What looked like vines and chains snaked their way around the letter to give the mark an altogether beautiful appearance. 

"I'm tired of waiting here Broadway!" the young girl snapped angrily as she addressed the Illusionist by his real name. 

"I know, but we must bide our time." The Illusionist replied calmly as he stood and walked toward the girl. 

"How much longer do we have to wait?" she asked. "It's boring here, with nothing to do." 

"Yes, I know." The Illusionist replied as he stood in front of her. "But if we attack too soon, then we run the risk of ruining everything."

"So how much longer must we wait?" the girl asked again impatiently.

"Just a few more days Meliara." The Illusionist said. "Just wait a few more days."

Meliara sighed in annoyance as she crossed her arms. "I hope you know what you are doing brother." She said. 

"Trust me. Soon, you and I will have everything that we could ever want." 

"Alright, I guess I could wait just a bit longer." Meliara said as she turned to leave the room. The Illusionist smiled as we walked over to a window. He stared out of the second story window at the ground below from Seriyu's castle. He had taken it over when Seriyu died. Things were almost ready, all he needed was to wait for the right time, and that would be in a few more days. The Illusionist looked again at the red jewel in his hands. 

"I'm going to rule the world." He said aloud. "All with the help of this little crystal."

  



	2. chapter one

Ryo opened his eyes as sunlight streamed in through the open window hitting him square in the face. He squinted in the bright light as he turned his face to escape the brightness. He moved his face only to find it buried in thick tiger fur. 

"Kero!" he muttered as he gave the orange tiger a nudge. The tiger gave a big yawn, showing off his sharp teeth as he grudgingly moved to allow Ryo to see the sleeping face of his wife.

_'Now that is what I like to wake up to.'_ He thought with a chuckle. He leaned over and kissed her forehead, causing her to wake up. Sakura blinked a few times as she gave Ryo a sleepy grin. 

"Morning, what time is it?" she asked him. 

Ryo gave a halfhearted shrug. "I have no idea." He answered. Sakura rolled over.

"Then I'm going back to sleep." She said as Ryo laughed and got up. He walked over to her side and pulled her up.

"Nope, you're staying awake this time. If I can't go back to sleep, you can't."

"Fine." She agreed as she sat up and looked at him. "I need to get up anyway." She said.

"Yes, you do. So what are you up to today?" Ryo asked as he moved around the room.

"Oh you know this and that. Nothing important." She answered as she got up as well. After a few more minutes they were dressed and headed downstairs to find everyone else. They found their friends in the living room except for Cale, Sage, Anubis, Rowen, and Cye. 

"Hey guys, what's up?" Sakura greeted as they sat down on the couch.

"Nothing much, I think today is just going to be one of those relaxing days. Not much is going on." Alanna answered.

"That's good." Ryo said aloud. In all truth he was happy that it was like that. It seemed like there had just been so much going on recently. For awhile, Sakura had been having alternating nightmares about her dead friend Kanna, and then about him dieing at the hands of a monster. She had finally explained the dreams to him and then she got caught up in a fantasy, where she ended up unlocking the gate under her father's throne. That resulted in them fighting against a shadowrunner, which killed him. But thanks to Kanna's ghost was brought back to life. And he was glad that, for once, no one was trying to kill him or his wife trying to get revenge. Which just seemed to be everyone's motive. 

"So does anybody have any plans for today?" Sakura asked, breaking his train of thought.

"I think that me and Alanna are about to go to the city." Mia said. "Anyone who wants to come is welcome."

"I might take you up on that offer." Sakura said. "Wanna come Ryo?" 

"And hear you girls talk about girl junk and guys all day? I'll pass on that." He replied with a smile.

"Very funny." She said giving him a playful punch as she stood up. "Just for that, I'm telling them stuff about you."  

"You don't have anything on me." Ryo shot back as he crossed his arms assuredly.

"Wanna bet?" she asked as she whispered something in his ear. Ryo's eyes widened.

" You know I was just kidding about that girl junk comment." He protested.

 Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah that's what I thought," she said as Mia and Alanna stood up and started heading for the door. "Coming Sakura?" Alanna asked. Sakura nodded as she bent down and kissed Ryo.

"I'll see you when I get back." She said as she went to the door and left with the girls. Ryo smiled to himself as he went to find what was going on with the others.

He walked outside to find Rowen off by himself, staring at the sky. 

"Hey, Rowen. What are ya looking at?" Ryo asked as he walked toward him.

Rowen turned and gave Ryo a nod of acknowledgment. 

"Nothin, just thinking." 

"About what?" Ryo asked as he came to stand next to his friend.

"Do you wonder if there is someone out there for everyone?" Rowen asked him. Surprised at the question Ryo shrugged. 

"I suppose so. I never really thought about it." 

Rowen shook his head. "Yeah, I didn't think you would have. I mean you have Sakura after all." 

"Are you alright?" Ryo asked his friend. 

Rowen turned to him and laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just kind of a passing thought. I mean you have Sakura, Sage has Alanna, that is if he ever works up enough nerve to tell her that he likes her, and I think that Anubis is starting to have a thing for Mia." Rowen said as he turned to look back at the sky. "I just wondered if there was someone out there for the rest of us; you know me and Kento and Cye and even Dais and them." Ryo looked at Rowen as then at the sky as well.

"I'm sure of it." Ryo said. "You just wait, one day you'll be minding your own business and then the next thing you know you find yourself staring into a pair of the most gorgeous eyes you have ever seen." He said remembering when he first saw Sakura.

Rowen gave a laugh. "Yeah right, just because you met the love of your life when you were ten doesn't mean all of us have been that lucky."

"It could happen." Ryo said with a laugh as Rowen joined in.

"Maybe it could." 

  



	3. chapter two

High above the peaks of the phoenix mountains, up in the clouds lived a clan of people called the cloudrunners. They were called the cloudrunners because of their wings, and whenever they flew, it looked like they were running on the clouds, henceforth the name. The cloudrunners were a very secretive race, only a handful of people knew of their existence. But there was one person who was outside of that handful that knew about them, The Illusionist. 

"The cloudrunner palace is the perfect place to begin." The Illusionist said to Meliara.

"The perfect place to begin what?" Meliara asked. 

"To begin my take over of the world. Many have tried before me, namely Talpa and Seriyu, but I have studied their mistakes, and I won't make the same ones. Talpa's mistake was his overconfidence in his daughter's loyalty. If he had never sent her on that spy mission, he probably would have succeeded. Seriyu's mistake was that he underestimated the strength of Sakura's love for Ryo and vice versa and was overconfident in his ability to control what was under Talpa's throne. Well I have learned from their mistakes and will be the one to be victorious." The Illusionist said as he stared at the steadily growing closer peaks of the Phoenix Mountains, his sister at his side. 

They were watching them from Seriyu's floating castle. That was, in fact, where The Illusionist first got the idea to attack the cloudrunners. If he wanted to beat the Ronins and warlords, he would have to have an impressive army. Then once the Ronin warriors were dead, there would be no one to stop him. So he figured that if he attacked a race, nobody knew existed, he would have enough time to build an army that even Ryo's armor of Inferno couldn't beat. All he had to do was wait for the appropriate time to attack and that was that night. The Illusionist had spent the last few years learning everything he could about the so called mythical cloudrunners. Everyone thought he was crazy, 'They don't really exist.' People had told him. 'They are just make believe characters told to little children at bedtime.' But The Illusionist knew they were wrong; he had seen one. It had been a long time ago, back before when he had been called by his real name, Broadway. He had been hiking in the Phoenix Mountains. He had finally reached the peak of the highest tip. He stood there, standing at the top, surveying the few craggy peaks that jutted through the clouds. Then he saw it, a man with wings protruding from his back. The man soared gracefully above in the sky, weaving in and out of the clouds. It had been an amazing sight. After that, the Illusionist dedicated himself to learning everything about the cloudrunners, although no one believed his story except his little sister, Meliara. But that didn't matter now, once he had his cloudrunner army, no one would doubt what he had seen. Then they would be sorry, they all would be. Moving away from the window he reached into his pocket to once again look at the gem that he had taken from the shadowrunner. Meliara noticed this out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you staring at that jewel again?" she asked as the Illusionist fondly held it in his fist. "I'm surprised you haven't married it." She said sarcastically.

"This little jewel, is going to be the one thing that tips the scales in our favor." The Illusionist replied, not amused by his sister's joke.

"I don't see how that little gem is going to help us any." She said as she went and perched herself atop the table, staring at her brother. 

"That is because you don't know how to use it." The Illusionist said as he sat himself in a chair, and placed the jewel back in his pocket. 

"And you do?" Meliara pressed.

"Do you really think that I would go through the trouble of stealing it, if I didn't?" The Illusionist asked her logically. "Come on, Mel, you know me better than that." Meliara nodded. He was right, when Broadway wanted to steal something; he made sure that he knew what he was doing first. In a way it bugged her, because he would plan months even years ahead making sure he knew as much about it as he could just to steal a little red jewel like that. And yet, she also admired him for it as well. Her brother was very smart, and thought out each plan of attack thoroughly, down to the last man. He left no stone unturned, and that was why his plans always worked. Meliara smiled, he had gotten that from their father. 

_'Father would be proud of him.' _Meliara thought as she turned to stare out the window of the looming mountains. Just then the two heard a knock on the door. 

"Enter." Meliara said as The Illusionist stood up. A winged man entered the room. The man was handsome and tall with black hair and green eyes, and black leathery wings sprouting from his back that reminded Meliara of a bat. 

"We are nearing our destination, my lady." The man said. Meliara smiled. 

"Thank you Joren, you may leave." The winged man bowed and left the room as Meliara turned to her brother.

"Well brother, I have done my part, now the rest is up to you."

  



	4. chapter three

Alecie stared out of the window of the second story of the cloudrunner palace. Why her father insisted on having her sit in on these meeting was beyond her, but he was her father and what father said goes. She placed her chin in her hand and fluttered her white wings aggravatedly as she watched two small girls chasing after one another. The two girls would disappear and reappear sporadically hiding from the other among the clouds and giving a squeal of delight when tagged. Alecie gave a small laugh. How she would rather be out there soaring in the sky then sitting in this stuffy room, listening to things that really weren't any of her concern. 

"Lecie, are you listening?" Her father's voice asked. Alecie didn't hear his voice as she continued to be lost in her daydream. 

"Alecie!" her father tried again rising to his feet. 

"ALECIE LYNETTE RYDER!" he father yelled. Alecie snapped to attention turning her head to look at her mother and father's disappointed face and at the faces of the numerous generals and high ranking officers in the room. 

"Yes sir?" she asked obediently.

Alecie's father sat back down with a plop, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "Lecie, are you listening?" 

"Yes sir." She replied promptly.

"Then what do you think we should do?" he asked. Alecie panicked. She had stopped listening hours ago. 

"Umm…" she stalled as the eighteen year old cloudrunner nervously laced her fingers together. "I think we should….um…." 

"Have you listened to anything we have been saying?" her father asked wearily. 

"Yes, I have, I just kinda got distracted." She said her voice trailing off. 

"Alecie, this is very important." Her father said trying to persuade her to start showing more of an interest in this. "Not just our future, but the future of the entire cloudrunner race is at stake. And as princess of the cloudrunners, the people's problem is your problem" 

"I know." Alecie said hanging her head. It was true. She was the princess of the cloudrunners and it was her duty to do everything in her power to help her people. 

"But I still don't see what any of these strategic battle plans have to do with me." She said bringing her head up to stare at her father. "I mean, Marcus is the one who is next in line to rule, not me, and besides I'm not allowed to fight anyway." She said as she crossed her arms. Her father, King Tallas, shook his head; there was just no reasoning with her sometimes. 

"I don't even know how that stupid Illusionist found his way here anyway. We are a floating colony for Pete's sake!" she added. King Tallas sighed, she had a good point. They were a floating colony, as were all the cloudrunner colonies, and besides that there was the fact that the only way to find one, was to follow someone who already knew where it was to begin with.

"That is why we are having these meetings." King Tallas said. "To find out how they know about us, and who is leading them." 

"I still don't understand why I have to be here." Alecie replied stubbornly. 

"Because you…."

"Are the princess." Alecie finished. "Yeah….so what? How come none of the others have to be here?" she challenged standing up. 

"Alecie." Her mother's voice cut in showing her disapproval of her tone of voice.

"We have been through this." King Tallas said with a sigh his massive grey wings twitching in aggravation at his daughter's show of unconcern for her people. "Your brother is out scouting and Elizabeth and Minda are too young." Alecie sighed as she sat back down. Nobody said anything for a few minutes as the room filled with the awkward silence of rustling of papers and polite coughs.

"Now, getting back to business." The king said as he slowly lowered himself in his throne. "One of our spies, Joren," the king said gesturing to the handsome man in the corner. "Has brought us back information that the Illusionist plans on attacking the capitol, Skybax City, tonight."

"But your highness," one general spoke up. "Tonight is a full moon!" 

"Yes, I know." The King replied unhappily. 

"But we can not fly during a full moon!" another general protested.

"How did he find out?" a captain asked. King Tallas shrugged. 

"I do not know, all I know is that we must be ready and prepare ourselves and defend our capitol the best we can given the circumstances." 

"Why don't we go get help?" Alecie spoke up. Every eye turned to look at the teenage princess. 

"We have already asked our neighboring colonies for help, they are doing the best they can." The king replied.

"No." Alecie said. "I mean help from someone other than a cloudrunner." 

"Absolutely not!" The King roared as he stood to his feet. 

"But, father…." Alecie tried but her father cut her off.

"You know the law, no cloudrunner is to come into contact with anyone other than a cloudrunner." The king said. 

"But why?" Alecie challenged rising to her feet as well, staring at her father. "I mean we need help, so why not go find it else where? Isn't the safety of our people more important than remaining a secret from the earthwalker world?" she asked. 

"My answer in no!" King Tallas answered sternly. Alecie scowled at his answer as she stormed out of the room, slamming the doors behind her. 

  



	5. chapter four

Alecie walked down the hall and went into her room, slamming the oak door behind her. She threw herself on her bed and stared up at the light blue canopy that stretched from bedpost to bedpost across her bed. 

"Why is father so stubborn!" she said aloud. 

"Because he thinks he is doing the right thing." A mystical voice sounded from the corner. Alecie sat up and turned to see a young sphinx sitting calmly in the shadows. 

"Athena!" Alecie said jumping off the bed. "Where have you been?" 

The sphinx gracefully got up and walked toward the teen cloudrunner, "Here and there." She answered. 

"Did you go down to the earthwalker world?" Alecie asked excitedly. The sphinx nodded her human like head, her tail calmly moving back and forth as she sat on her haunches. 

"They aren't called earthwalkers, they are called humans. And yes, that was where I was." Alecie wanted to ask more, but decided to change the subject; they had more important matters to discuss.

"Did you know that Skybax city is being attacked tonight?" Alecie asked. Athena nodded. 

"Yes, I did. Your father must be very worried." Athena said knowingly.

"He is, because tonight is a full moon, and we can not fly during a full moon. He will probably leave in a few minutes to go there and help our army." 

"What is he going to do?" Athena asked. Alecie crossed the room and stared out the window and the pink sky, a sure sign the sun was going down. 

"I don't know, he's called the neighboring clans for help, but they can't fly during a full moon either, except for the raiders, and I don't know how much help that that is going to be." Alecie punched a pillow in frustration. 

"We need more help than just cloudrunners!" she yelled.

"Then get some." Athena yawned. Alecie turned to look at the sphinx in surprise. 

"What?" 

"You heard me, if you think that more help is needed, than go and get some." Athena said. Alecie slumped down on a nearby chair and looked at Athena, then out the window. 

"But….the only other place to go to for help is to ask an earthwalker, and…and father absolutely forbids it." She said. "Besides, I wouldn't know the first place to start looking for help there." 

"You may not," Athena said standing up. "But I do, I have heard stories of a group called the Ronin Warriors, a very strong group, they might help you if you ask. And besides desperate times call for desperate measures. If you feel that going to the humans for help is the best thing, than do it." 

Alecie sat still for a minute before turning to look at Athena. "I still don't understand why father won't ask them for help." She said quietly.

"He is afraid that history will repeat itself." Athena replied knowingly. 

"But that was a long time ago!" Alecie protested. "I'm sure that the earthwalkers have gotten a lot smarter since then." 

"They may be smarter, but not necessarily wiser." Athena pointed out. "Remember, I have seen them, and I can tell you that some humans are selfish and greedy and would think nothing of double crossing a trusting cloudrunner for their own personal gain." Alecie stared in shock at Athena. Wondering how a person could be that cruel. 

"But…" Athena continued. "I have also seen that some are kind and compassionate. And from what I have seen and heard, these Ronin Warriors are such people." Alecie got up off her chair and walked across the room, lost in thought. She stared at her reflection in the mirror on her wall, then focused on the piercing gaze of the sphinx behind her. 

 "If you wish to ask these Ronin Warriors for help; I will meet you at the gate in fifteen minutes, that will give you enough flying time before night fall to reach them. But you must be sure." Having said her piece Athena got up and walked toward an open window. 

"Wait!" Alecie said as the sphinx turned her head to look at her. "How do I know if it's the right thing to do?" 

"That is a question that you must answer yourself." Athena replied as the sphinx spread her tan wings and flew off, leaving Alecie alone to think. Alecie stared at Athena until she disappeared in the distance then gave a scowl. 

"Fifteen minutes? That isn't too long from now." She said aloud as she went to sit on her bed. 

_'Is going for help the right thing to do?'_ Alecie wondered as she sat on her bed. _'Father will defiantly be mad, but Athena said that they might be able to help. But they are earthwalkers and won't be able to naturally fly.' Alecie thought about it long and hard. She suddenly got up and walked out of her room with a purposeful stride. She walked down the hall and stood in front of a huge double door. After checking to make sure the coast was clear, she placed her hand on the door where a doorknob should be. _

"Please state your name." a mechanical voice instructed.

"My name is Alecie Lynnette Ryder. Princess of the Cloudrunners." She stated as her hand was scanned. 

The doors opened with a whoosh as she walked in. In the center of the room was a dais, floating in the air near the ceiling. Alecie spread her wings and flew up toward the dais. On in was a pile of stones. The stones were midnight blue with a feather engraved in the stone. The engraved feather was multicolored and glittered as Alecie picked up the six stones that belonged to her. Luckily there was enough that even if she took that many, they wouldn't be missed unless counted. She placed the stones in a pouch that hung from her side as she exited the room. The room locking behind her. She then made her way to the gate. It was exactly fifteen minutes when she saw Athena, waiting as she has said at the gate. 

"Have you made a decision?" Athena asked as the princess neared her. 

"All right, I'll do it." 

Athena smiled as she flapped her tan wings, and flew off into the slowly darkening sky. Alecie right behind her.

  



	6. chapter five

Alecie flew for what seemed like many miles as she followed Athena. The sky continued to get darker, and Alecie's wings started to fade. 

"Are we almost there?" Alecie called out. "My wings are starting to fade." Athena turned her cat like head and saw that the teen cloudrunner, was starting to lose altitude. 

"Yes, just fly as long as you can." Athena instructed as they flew fast across the sky. Alecie looked down at the passing houses, cities, and fields. 

_'The earth is truly beautiful, but nothing compared to __Skybax__City__.'  She thought with pride. _

"There is our destination." Athena voiced, drawing Alecie's attention to a house that was in the middle of a forest. It was just in time too as the moon came out, and Alecie's white wings that had been slowly fading, disappeared all together. Luckily, Alecie had foreseen the sudden disappearance of her wings and was near the ground. She landed lightly on her feet, bending her knees to take in impact. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rowen, Sage, and Ryo, who were outside waiting for the girls return, looked up in surprise at their view of the intruder on the porch. They jumped up and instantly ran over to where the girl was. 

"Hey! Are you alright?" Ryo asked the girl as she looked up at him. Alecie stared up at the three young men in surprise. She wasn't really sure what to expect when she had heard about the Ronin Warriors, but three very attractive guys, was defiantly a surprise. A very pleasant surprise. She suddenly realized she was staring as she shakily stood up. It was always hard to stand after the loss of her wings.

"Yes, I'm fine." She said, dusting herself off. "Thank you." 

Rowen took a hard look at the girl. She was pretty, very pretty, with shoulder length brown hair and sky blue eyes. 

_'Ryo was right,'_ he thought as he stared at her. _'I'll be minding my own business then next thing I know, I'll find myself staring into a pair of the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.'_

"You sure gave us a surprise." Sage said looking her over. "All of a sudden landing in our front yard like that." Alecie nodded. 

"Who are you?" Rowen asked. Alecie turned her head to look at him as she blushed. 

"I'm sorry, where are my manners. I am Alecie. Alecie Lynnette Ryder, but everyone calls me Lecie." She said as she extended her hand. 

"I'm Rowen," Rowen spoke up shaking her hand. "And this is Sage and Ryo." Alecie bowed to each in turn as she covertly scanned the skies for Athena. 

_'Are these them?' _she wondered as she looked at them. _'They really don't look like warriors. Oh, I wish Athena was here. She would know. Where did she go anyway?' _

Ryo, Sage, and Rowen exchanged glances, unsure with what to do with Alecie. 

"Would you like to come inside?" Ryo offered finally. Alecie turned her attention back to the black haired man and smiled. 

"Yes, I would appreciate that." She answered as she took a step forward. But with the still recent loss of her wings, her weight was off which caused her to stumble. Ryo reached out and caught her as she held onto him by the neck. This happened right about the time as Sakura, Mia, and Alanna got back. Sakura took one look at the scene as a flash of jealousy went through her mind, but she pushed it away as soon as it appeared. It was Ryo after all; she didn't have anything to be jealous about. Sakura walked calmly up to the group, followed by a now quiet Mia and Alanna. 

"Hello Ryo." She said as Ryo looked up at his wife. He gave a weak smile, noting the position he was in, and wondered what it must look like to Sakura. After all, here he was holding a strange girl, and she had her arm around his neck for support. 

"Hey, Sakura. I see you are back from the city." He said.

"Yes, I am. Who is your friend?" she asked. Ryo quickly situated Alecie away from him, after making sure she could stand. 

"Um, Sakura this is Alecie. Alecie this is my wife, Sakura." He said as he went to stand next to her, putting his arm around her waist.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance."  Alecie said politely as she looked at the now bigger group and quickly assessed them. Ryo was obviously married to Sakura, and judging by the way Alanna was standing next to Sage, he was all but taken as well. She shrugged inwardly, it didn't really matter anyway. If she told her father she was dating an earthwalker, he would be livid. But she couldn't help but wonder if the one called Rowen was taken as well. 

"Well, let's go inside, and you can tell us where you came from." Sakura said kindly. Alecie gave a small nod of gratefulness to Sakura. She was glad that she hadn't made an enemy right off the bat, especially if these men turned out to be the Ronins that she sought. The group turned and made their way inside, all wondering about the mysterious girl that had appeared from the sky.

  



	7. chapter six

Once inside, everyone crowded around Alecie as she sat on the couch.

"Would you like something to drink or eat?" Mia asked, trying to be a good hostess. Alecie declined her offer as she looked at the now much larger group. There were seven other guys aside from Ryo, Sage, and Rowen and Alecie was having a hard time trying to distinguish which ones where the Ronin warriors and who wasn't. It was all very confusing and she wished that Athena was there to instruct her but she had remembered that Athena rarely made her presence known the earthwalkers and so that meant that Alecie was left to figure things out on her own. After everyone had settled down, Rowen taking it upon himself to sit next to her, she took a deep breath and asked the question that had been on her mind. 

"Please, are you the Ronin warriors?" she blurted. Well, that question certainly shook things up. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as everyone exchanged glances. 

"Who wants to know?" Cale asked suspiciously. Everyone turned to her to see her response. The group had already had way too many encounters with enemies that wanted to destroy them and they weren't just going to hand over any information about them unless they had some background information first. 

"I am Alecie Lynette Ryder." She said straightening in her seat a bit. "Princess of the cloudrunners, and I have come to ask the Ronins for help." 

"_The _Cloudrunners?" Sakura spoke up leaning forward in interest. Alecie looked slightly taken back that someone else knew of the cloudrunner race, but nodded. 

"Yes, do you know of them?" she asked. 

"Only what I've heard from my father and read in stories," Sakura said. "I never really believed that they were real." 

"Yes, we are very real, and in desperate need of help. So please can you tell me if you are the Ronin warriors that I have heard about?" she asked again. 

"First can someone tell me what is a cloudrunner?" Kento asked. 

"We are a people that live in the clouds. We live mainly above what the earthwalkers call the Phoenix Mountains, but we can live anywhere." 

"Earthwalkers?" Sage cut in. 

"People that aren't cloudrunners." Alecie said. 

"How do you live in the clouds?" Cye asked. "I mean, how do you stay up there?" Alecie looked at him somewhat surprised.

"Why, we fly of course." She answered.

"Fly?" Rowen asked amazed. 

"Yes, every cloudrunner is born with wings and we obviously fly that way." Alecie said proudly.

"Then where are yours?" Sekhmet cut in. 

Alecie looked at him then out the window behind him to see the full moon. "A cloudrunners wings will fade in the light of a full moon. So until the sun comes up tomorrow, I am grounded." 

"So what do you need help for?" Alanna asked. 

"My people are being attacked, tonight. Some strange man called Broadway, otherwise known as the Illusionist is attacking out capitol, Skybax city." 

"The Illusionist!" Sakura said with alarm.

"I thought he was dead." Ryo commented. 

"No, Seriyu was the one who died." Sakura answered. 

"I take it you know this man?" Alecie asked surprised that they had heard of him. 

"Yeah." Sakura replied with a scowl. "We know him." 

"Then you know how much my people need the Ronin warriors help." Alecie said clasping her hands together. "Please I beg of you to tell me. Are you the Ronin Warriors or not?" 

The Ronins looked at each other then to Ryo, silently sending him their opinion by their expressions. Ryo looked at each one then to Sakura, then to Alecie. 

"We are." He finally said. 

  



	8. chapter seven

Alecie clapped her hands together happily. 

"I knew it! Oh please, will you help me?" She begged. 

"Of course," Ryo replied. "But how do you suggest that we get up to where you live?" 

"We aren't cloudrunners." Sage added. 

Alecie reached into the pouch at her side and pulled out one of the stones that she took from the treasure vault. 

"I can give you this." She said as she showed them the glittering stone. Sakura took the outstretched stone and turned it over, looking at it polished surface. 

"It's beautiful." She breathed. Ryo took the stone from her and examined it. 

"It is." He agreed. 

"What is it?" Anubis asked. 

"It's a soaring stone." Alecie said. 

"What is a soaring stone?" Rowen asked. 

"It's what we use to keep our building from crashing down on earth." Alecie explained. "Of course those are much bigger. But they can also be used to grant earthwalkers wings." 

"You mean we'll be able to fly with these things?" Kento asked taking the stone from Ryo. 

"Yes, but they won't be natural wings like mine, so you must keep the stone with you at all times or you'll lose your wings and fall to the ground." 

"Cool!" Sage exclaimed as he took the stone from Kento. 

"But I'm afraid that I only have six." She said. "I didn't know how many to expect so I took only the ones that belonged to me." 

"So that means only five of us can go?" Cale asked. 

"Five?" Alecie questioned. "I brought six."

"But since it's the full moon, you'll need one to get back." Sage pointed out. 

"They won't work on a cloudrunner." She said sadly. 

"Why not?" Mia asked. Alecie shrugged. 

"I don't know, they just don't. That is why we use them for our buildings. Otherwise we would have no use for them." 

"So when would you like us to leave?" Ryo asked. 

"In the morning." Alecie answered. "I'll have my wings back after sunrise." 

"Then in the morning it is." Sage agreed. 

"You can spend the night with us." Mia said. 

Alecie shook her head. "I don't want to impose." She said quietly. 

"Don't be silly." Rowen interrupted. "We have more than enough room, besides where else would you stay?" 

Alecie looked down at her hands. "I guess you're right. Thank you." She said.

"Think nothing of it." Rowen said happy that she was staying the night. 

"You can stay in Sakura's old bed." Alanna said.

"But where will she sleep?" Alecie asked looking at Sakura. 

"I'm with Ryo." She said looping her arm through his. Alecie nodded. _'That's right, they're married. I forgot.'_

"I really appreciate this." She said again. 

"Come on." Rowen said standing up and extending his hand to the young girl. Alecie looked up at Rowen and smiled, took his hand, and followed him upstairs. Once Rowen had taken Alecie out of hearing distance Ryo addresses the group. 

"Ok, we have a problem here. Alecie brought only six stones, but there are ten of us."

"I didn't think about that." Cale commented. 

"Well she came to ask the Ronin warriors for help, so I guess that means that you guys go." Anubis said. 

"Well, we can always use draco." Sakura spoke up. "But he can only carry three. That still leaves one left." 

"Well, someone can carry someone. I mean we aren't that heavy." Sage suggested.

"And once we are up there, we still won't be able to fly." Dais added. 

"Maybe once we are up there we can get more stones or something." Cye suggested. 

"Maybe… we can always ask her in the morning." Ryo agreed. 

"But until then, let's get some sleep." Sakura answered standing up. The others nodded their agreement as they made their way upstairs and to their respective rooms. 

  



	9. chapter eight

Rowen brought Alecie to the room that Mia and Alanna stayed.  

"You can stay here tonight." He said as he escorted her into the room. 

"It's very nice, thank you." She said. 

"I'll be right back to get you some blankets and a pillow." Rowen said. "Make yourself at home." Alecie watched as he left the room. She then walked over to the window and stared wistfully at the clouds that passed over the full moon. 

_'I hope everyone is alright.'_ She thought worriedly. _'This will be Marcus's first battle. And I bet father is leading the troops. I hope that I did the right thing, asking these warriors for help. Father is going to be livid when I show up with them tomorrow.'_ Alecie was still staring out the window when Rowen came back in the room. He silently put the blankets down as he came to stand beside her. 

"Alecie?" he said. Alecie turned around startled as he hand flew to her heart. 

"Rowen. You startled me." She said. 

"Sorry," he replied sheepishly. "I brought you those blankets." He said indicating the pile on the floor. 

"Thank you." She said quietly, turning back to the window. 

"You're worried about your family aren't you?" He asked gently. Alecie nodded. 

"Wouldn't you be?" she said. "Father is leading the troops, and this is Marcus's first real battle. I just hope that nothing happens to him, to either of them." 

"Marcus?" Rowen inquired, his heart sinking at the affection in her voice when she said his name. 

Alecie turned to him. "My brother." She said. Rowen smiled. 

"Don't worry, Alecie." He said taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure that they'll be fine." Alecie turned to face him and gave him a smile. 

"Thank you Rowen." She said. "And please, call me Lecie. I only get called Alecie when I'm in trouble and then he uses my full name." She said with a grin. Rowen smiled again. 

"Alright, Lecie." He said liking the sound of his name when she said it. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning." He said as he left the room. Alecie watched him until he left the room, thinking of how he had held her hand made her face blush, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside. 

"Oh, what am I doing?" she asked herself aloud. _'I can't like an earthwalker! I am the princess of the cloudrunners, it could never work. Father would be furious, mother would freak and not to mention what everyone would say. I think the best thing for me to do is to stay as far away from him as possible, and then once we have defeated Broadway, he and I will forget all about each other.' She nodded her head in confirmation. Yes, that was what she was going to do. What she didn't know was how hard that was going to be._

Mia and Alanna came into the room a few minutes after Rowen left. 

"Thank you again for letting me stay." Alecie said gratefully. Mia waved it off. 

"It's no problem at all." She said. The three girls got into bed, Alecie staring at the ceiling, when Alanna broke the silence. 

"What's it like living in the sky?" She asked the princess. Alecie turned her head to face her and smiled. 

"It's wonderful. Clouds everywhere. It really isn't much different from your cities, aside from the fact that ours are in the sky. Our architecture is different as well." 

"I bet it's beautiful, Sakura is going to have to tell us all about it." Mia said. 

"Sakura?" Alecie asked. 

"Yes, since you only brought six stones, we were downstairs deciding who would go with you, and Sakura is one of them." Mia explained. 

"But why is she going?" Alecie asked confused. Alanna looked at her.

"Because she is a Ronin Warrior." She said slowly. Alecie looked surprised; she didn't know that Sakura was a fighter. 

"I didn't know that. She doesn't really look like one." Alecie commented softly. Alanna and Mia laughed. 

"You're right, she doesn't. But she is, and quite a good one too." Mia said. Alecie nodded. 

_'How cool is that?' _Alecie thought. _'Girls aren't allowed to be warriors in __Skybax__City__, or anywhere for that matter.' _

"Sakura, she's married to Ryo, right?" she asked trying to place names with faces. 

Alanna nodded. "Yes," 

"And Alanna, Sage is your boyfriend?" she asked. Alanna blushed. "Well, I'd like him to be. I don't think he likes me like that though." Alecie raised an eyebrow as if to say "yeah right!"  It was obvious even to a newcomer that Sage had a thing for her; apparently he was just too nervous to say anything about it. 

"What about the others? You know Rowen, and um… I think his name was Cye and Kento?" she said trying to remember the introductions as she asked about Rowen.

Mia shook her head. "Nope, technically, Ryo is the only one that is taken and he is totally devoted to Sakura. And no matter how much Alanna denies it," she said giving Alanna a look. "Sage likes her and I doubt that his opinion will be swayed." 

Alanna blushed deep red. "He does not like me like that!" she replied. Mia sat up and threw a pillow at her. 

"Stop denying it, you know it's true!" she said. Alecie smiled, watching them, it reminded her of sharing a room with Elizabeth and Minda. 

"Who else was chosen?" Alecie asking changing the subject, secretly hoping that Rowen was one of them. Mia thought for a minute. 

"Well, it's not for certain yet." She said slowly. "I think that Ryo and them have some things to ask you tomorrow before they make the "final cut". But I do know for sure that Ryo, Sakura, Sage, and Rowen are going." Alecie smiled. 

_'Rowen's coming.'_ She thought happily, temporarily forgetting all about her promise to herself earlier to forget about him. "Why do you have a thing for Rowen?" Mia asked slyly. Alecie blushed.   
"No," she replied quickly. "I could never date an earthwalker. Father would absolutely forbid it." Mia raised an eyebrow as if she could read the cloudrunner's mind but didn't say anything. 

"Well, goodnight." Mia said eventually. "See you guys in the morning." Alecie and Alanna returned her goodnight as they fell asleep. 


	10. chapter nine

Alecie woke up early the next morning, long before anyone else. She couldn't sleep very well for fear of her family's safety and besides, she always woke up early the next morning after having just lost her wings. Sneaking out of the room, she quietly shut it behind her so as not to disturb Mia and Alanna. She then tiptoed downstairs and made her way outside. 

_'It's almost sunrise.'_ She thought as she stood in the front yard, waiting. 

Alecie wasn't the only one up either. Rowen was up as well, along with Kento and Anubis. He had seen Alecie walk outside and had followed her outside to see what she was up to. He leaned against the door. 

_'She seems to be waiting for something.'_ He thought to himself as he watched her. 

Alecie, unaware that she was being watched, straightened her shoulders when she knew the sun was about to come up. As soon as the sun peeked over the trees, a stream of sunlight hit Alecie as she closed her eyes in anticipation. This was her favorite part. Alecie started to glow as two white wings magically grew on her back, until they were full sized. 

Rowen stared at her with his mouth hanging open in awe.

_'wow.'_ Was all he could think as he stared speechless at the cloudrunner. As soon as Alecie felt the familiar weight of her wings, she kicked off from the ground, her wings spread as she soared around the house. She made one or two laps, delighting in having back her wings as she touched down on the ground where she had stood earlier. 

Rowen smiled as he clapped. Alecie turned around startled. 

"Wonderful performance." He said with a smile walking toward her. Alecie blushed at his compliment. 

"Sorry, I always do that the day after a full moon." She said somewhat sheepishly. Rowen shook his head. 

"I can understand why. I mean going most of your life with wings and then losing them temporarily for a night. I'd probably do the same thing." He said. Alecie smiled at his understanding. No one at home understood why she did that, "It's only for one night." They said. But Rowen, he understood, he seemed to understand what it was like for her to have something so precious as her wings, and then to have them taken away, even if only for a night, and then the rejoicing she felt the next day when they were back. 

"You know, I think that you would have made a great cloudrunner." She said to him. Rowen smiled at what he assumed was a compliment. 

"I wish I could have been one. It must be awesome to be able to fly like that. I've always wanted to fly." He admitted. 

"Well, you will get your chance today to see what it's like." She said. 

"Can't wait." He said. The two stood there for a few more minutes before heading back inside. By then everyone else was awake. Everyone was amazed at Alecie's wings, as they sat down to eat before they left. Everyone was quiet until Alecie broke the silence. 

"How do you guys know Broadway?" she asked suddenly. Everyone looked at her quickly then to Sakura who lowered her eyes. Alecie sensed she had touched a tender subject for at least one of them, and she felt a hunch that it was Sakura. 

"It's a long story." Sakura said finally and Alecie didn't ask anymore. She too had her share of "incidents" with people that she cared not to get out into public. She figured that this was like that. 

"So who is coming with me?" Alecie asked changing the subject.  

"Well, we had a question about that." Ryo said. "Is there anyway that once we get up to Skybax City that we could get more soaring stones so that all of us could go?" 

Alecie thought for a moment before answering. She leaned back in her chair as she thought about her father's reaction and how he would take to bringing more of them.  They way things were, she wasn't even sure if her father would accept help from the earthwalkers, and she was nervous about going back. 

"Well, I honestly don't know. I brought only the ones that belong to me. My suggestion is that we take as many as we can now, and if we can, I will come back and get the others. Is that okay?" 

Ryo nodded. "That's fine. Who would you like to come if only six of us could go?"

Rowen's name immediately came to Alecie's mind but she didn't say it first. 

"Well, I really don't know your strengths and weaknesses like you guys do." She said. "just choose who you think would be the best suited to going." Ryo looked at the others. 

"Anyone not want to go?" he asked. 

"I don't really like flying." Cale spoke up. 

"And I don't like heights." Kento added. 

Everyone nodded in understanding. "Well, my suggestion is that me, Sakura, Sage, Rowen, Anubis, and Cye go. Is everyone okay with that?" Ryo asked. Everyone agreed as they stood up. 

"Then let's head out."


	11. chapter ten

Everyone accompanied Alecie outside, squinting in the bright sunlight. Alecie reached into her pouch and took out the six stones. As she handed the stones out to them, large wings sprouted from the back of their shoulder blades as a tiny blue E appeared on each of their right shoulders. Alecie scanned the types of wings of each person as she raised an eyebrow in surprise at the variety. Ryo and Sakura each had white angel looking wings, like hers, except that Ryo's wings were tipped in red and Sakura's had a lighter shade of red to show that she was his wife. Sage and Cye had wings that connected to the person's arm, (think like a harpy's wings). Anubis had large leathery wings resembling those of a dragon or bat. But what really surprised her was Rowens. His wings were like hers, but his looked large and powerful, each feather having a thin golden lining. She stared in amazement as he stretched his new wings, getting used to the feel of them. 

_'He…he has the wings of royalty.'_ She thought in amazement. '_But…how…how can that be?'_

Alecie shook her head clearing her thoughts. She didn't have time to think about that now. 

"Hey, Alecie." Sakura said as Alecie turned to look at her. 

"Yes?"

"How come we all have different wings?" she asked observing Cye and Sage's then turning to Anubis' "And what is with the blue E?" Alecie smiled.

"Because when an earthwalker uses a soaring stone to get wings, it's like you become a cloudrunner, each person gets the wings that you would have had had you been born a clourunner. The E is there to show that your wings aren't natural." She said in explanation.

"E for earthwalker," Rowen said in conclusion.

 Sakura nodded as she fluttered her wings. 

"So there are more than one type of cloudrunners?" she asked. 

Aleice nodded. "Yes, there are many types of wings, there's the royalty, the raiders, the soarers, many kinds." 

"What kinds do we have?" Sage asked. 

"You have the wings of a raider." She said. "Raiders are the only type of cloudrunner that don't lose their wings during a full moon." Cye and Sage looked at each other. 

"We're raiders!" Sage said as Cye gave him a high five. Alecie smiled as she turned to Ryo and Sakura. 

"You two have the wings of soarer." She said looking at the red tips. 

"A soarer?" Ryo asked. 

"Yes, Soarers can fly higher than any other cloudrunner, because they can get closer to the sun without their wings burning. That's why they have red tips, to absorb the heat." Alecie explained. 

How come my tips are a darker than Sakura's?" Ryo asked looking at his then to Sakura. 

"It's to show that she is your wife." Alecie said. "A soarer boy is born with dark red tips and a girl with orange. When she is married, her tips change from orange to a light red to show that she is married."

"What about mine?" Anubis asked giving his dragon like wings a flap. Alecie turned to him, studying his wings.  

"You have the wings of a darkrider." She said. 

"What is a darkrider?" Anubis questioned. 

"Darkriders are cloudrunners that prefer to come out in the night." She said trying to remember. "Because of the black color of the wings, they are almost invisible at night." Anubis seemed please with his wings as she turned to Rowen. 

"And mine?" he asked expectantly. Alecie paused, not knowing what to say. His wings had the golden outline of royalty that much she was sure of, but it just wasn't possible. It couldn't be, it defied the cloudrunner law, and yet she was staring at his wings with her own eyes. 

"You… you have the wings of a…a clouddancer." She lied. She couldn't tell him what his wings really meant. Because she still wasn't sure if she believed it herself, and if they really were his then that threw everything she had been taught out the window. 

"What's a clouddancer?" Rowen asked interested. 

"Clouddancer are the fastest flying cloudrunners." She said finally. Rowen smiled brightly as Alecie pushed her thoughts away, but not before giving his wings one final look.

_'If those really are wings of royalty, then father is going to be more than upset.' _She thought nervously. '_But they can't be, I must be mistaking them for something else. I bet once we find Athena again, she'll know what type his are.'_

"You okay?" Rowen asked looking at her facial expression. Alecie looked up suddenly and gave a small smile. 

"Yeah, I was just thinking. Come on. It's time to go." And then she kicked off from the ground and rose into the air. The others followed her movement as they too were airborne. They turned in the air and waved good bye to their friends as they grew smaller the higher they rose into the sky.


	12. chapter eleven

The group followed Alecie as she soared through the air.  Everyone still concentrating on staying in the air. 

"You know, flying is a bit harder than it looks." Sage commented. Alecie turned her head to look at him and smiled. 

"Yes, it really is. But don't worry, it will get easier. By the time we get to the palace you'll be flying like a pro." Sage didn't look reassured as he faltered a bit in midair before catching a draft. Sakura and Rowen on the other hand seemed born to fly. The two were flying a bit higher than the others, every now and then performing a loop in the air. 

"Don't go to high." Alecie called up to them in warning. 

"Why not?" Rowen wanted to know. 

"If you get too close too the sun, your wings will burn, and trust me you don't want that."  Alecie said. 

"What will happen?" Ryo questioned. 

"Well, it's like getting a bad sunburn." Alecie said trying to explain it. "It hurts to move them and if they get burned too bad some of the prime feathers will be burned and you won't be able to fly." 

"How do you know if you are going to high?" Anubis asked. 

"You'll feel it. You'll start to feel a burn along the edge of the wings. That's when you know to come down. The longer you stay, the more intense the burning gets." 

"But our wings aren't natural." Sakura commented lowering her altitude to be next to Alecie. 

Alecie shook her head. "Doesn't matter. It will still hurt." 

"You talk as if this has happened to you." Rowen said.

Alecie blushed. "Yeah, I ignored my parent's warning and tried to see how high I could go. After I came back down, my wings were so burned I couldn't fly for a week. I even have a burn scar." She said, remembering how long that flightless week had seemed and then the month grounding after words. "I was lucky it was only a week, cloudrunners have lost their wings completely by doing that." 

"Did you get in trouble?" Rowen asked with a grin. 

"Yeah, grounded for a month." She said with a grimace. "I never did it again." The conversation stopped as Sakura continued to fly a bit higher than the others. 

"Sakura," Ryo called up to her. "Don't you think that you should come down a little?" he asked worried at how high she was going and what he had just heard from Alecie. 

Sakura gave him a look. 

"Aw, come on Ryo." She said. "What's the fun of having wings if you can't fly high?" she asked. 

"You heard what Alecie just said." He said returning her look. "If you go too high your wings will burn." 

"Don't worry about her, Ryo." Alecie broke in. "With the wings you and her have, she is nowhere close to getting her wings burned. She'll be fine. Why don't you go up there with her." She suggested nodding her head up. Ryo looked skeptical for a moment but flew higher. It wasn't long till the two were chasing each other in the air. Alecie smiled as she watched to the two. She loved watching little kids fly.  They chased each other flying through clouds and seeing how fast they could go. And Ryo and the others were like that. Once they figured out the basics of maneuvering, they were flying like little kids. Alecie turned her attention back to their destination. They had almost reached the Phoenix Mountains. A few minutes later she called to the others. 

"Guys, come here." She said. The ronins gathered around her as she pointed to the peaks of the mountains poking through the clouds.

"We are almost there. Once we reach those peaks we fly up. Then we will be at the Palace."

"Is the palace in Skybax City?" Sakura asked. 

"No, we thought placing the palace in the capitol would be dangerous, although there is one there. The palace is located in the city were the first cloudrunner king was born, Star Keeper City."

"Why is it called Star Keeper City?" Anubis asked. 

"Because there is a legend that the first Cloudrunner king was a special cloudrunner, with the ability to fly to the stars. He flew there one night and when he came back he brought back a star. He hid the star somewhere in the palace and it is said that if the cloudrunner race is ever in trouble, that the hiding place to the star would be revealed to the one who is one with the sky, but lover of the earth." Alecie sighed. 

"That has always been my favorite story." She said as she led them upward. A few minutes later they emerged from the clouds as Alecie gave a gasp of horror. 


	13. chapter twelve

"Lecie, what is it?" Rowen asked looking at her horrified face. "Why did you….oh" his voice dropped off as he looked at what she was gaping at. The palace and the surrounding houses and shops were in complete ruin. Smoke could be seen coming from fires that raged here and there as dead cloudrunners littered the streets. Here and there were bits of armor and weapons that had been discarded.  Broken archways and building continued to crumble as everything looked like it had been turned upside down. The smell of smoke and death hung in the air as Alecie stared at the crumbling city, unable to take her eyes away from the terrible sight. 

"What….what happened?" Alecie said in shock as she put her hand to her mouth. "I was…I was only gone for one night!" she said staring at the destruction. "How could all of this happened in one night?" she said. 

"Oh, Alecie, I'm so sorry." Sakura said moving closer to her. 

"I have to find my family!" she said as she took off for the castle. 

"Alecie! Wait!" Ryo called as they all flew after the saddened princess. Alecie flew as fast as she could as she scanned the streets below with keen eyes. 

_'Are there any survivors?'_ she wondered as she continued to look. _'How could this have happened? Broadway was supposed to attack __Skybax__City__! Not here! This can't be happening!' Alecie finally made it too the palace as she landed lightly on the front steps. She threw open the doors and ran inside, Rowen and the others right behind her. _

"Father!" she yelled as she ran down the hallway. 

"Mother!"

"Marcus? Elizabeth? Minda?" she continued to yell out for her family as she threw open doors, quickly scanned the room, and left to search the next one. The palace was just as much of a wreck as the outside of the city. Tapestries were torn and hanging by a thread as stones were missing and cracks could be seen running from the top of the ceiling down to the floor in long jagged patterns. Columns were broken as pieces littered the floor making it hard for a passerby to maneuver around them. Once polished surfaces were now caked with dust and blood and holes in the wall allowed the ronins to look out at the wrecked city. Ryo and the others looked as well, but found nothing. 

"Hello? Is there anybody here?" Alecie called fervently her voice growing more worried by the second. Alecie finally made it to her own room as she entered. Her room looked just like all the others, torn apart and destroyed without a single piece of evidence to show that her family had been there. 

"Father!" she tried again. 

"They aren't here." A calm familiar voice said floating out from a shadowed corner. Alecie ran over to the corner as the others entered the room. 

"Athena!" Alecie said hugging the sphinx. "What happened here? Where is everyone? Is my father ok?" Alecie asked firing off questions in rapid order. 

"Hold on, one question at a time!" Athena said moving toward Ryo and the others. 

"Where is my family?" Alecie asked as Athena walked around the group of Ronins assessing them with her piercing gaze. 

"These are the Ronins?" she asked. For while she had heard of them, she had never seen them herself, only about them. 

"Yes." Alecie replied off handedly. "Where are my father and mother?" She asked again more urgently this time. Athena turned to the young princess and sat on her haunches. 

"Do not worry. They are safe. I was able to take them to a hideout." Athena said. Alecie almost wept with relief. 

"Thank goodness." She said. "But what happened here? I thought Broadway was supposed to attack the capitol." 

"He did, but it was a only a diversion so that he could get to the king and queen." Athena said. "He apparently found out that the palace wasn't in Skybax City but here." 

"But how?" Alecie cried. "I mean we have a palace there! How did he know that that wasn't the real one?" 

Athena shook her head. "I do not know." Alecie hung her head. 

"How many survivors?" She asked solemnly.  

"I do not know for sure, but I was able to get the king and queen out and your brother was able to lead most of the people to the hideout." 

"That's good." Alecie said. "Then let's get moving." 

"Where are we going?" Anubis asked. 

"The hideout." Alecie said purposefully as she strode out of her room. 


	14. chapter thirteen

Once they reached the front palace steps Alecie turned to Athena.

"Will you take us to the hideout?" she asked. In answer Athena flew off as the others followed her. It was a silent group as they flew after the sphinx.

"Lecie?" Rowen asked gliding up next to her. She took to look at him and he could see the tear stains on her cheeks. 

"It's going to be okay. Athena said that your family is safe." 

"But, my people. You saw how many dead cloudrunners there were back there." Alecie said. Rowen didn't know how to answer her as he took her hand. Alecie looked at him surprised as he gave it a light squeeze. 

"I promise, everything will be okay." He said. Alecie gave a small smile. 

"Thanks Rowen." She said as he dropped her hand. 

Ryo and the others were flying a little further back than the others. 

"How could Broadway have done this much damage in only one night?" Ryo asked as they passed soundlessly over the destroyed city.

"Probably caught them by surprise." Sakura said. "They thought he was attacking the capitol, not here." 

"But according to Athena, they attacked that as well." Anubis added.

"My guess is that it was attacked, it just didn't get the full force of Broadway's attack." Cye said. 

They were silent for a moment before Sakura broke the silence. 

"Poor Alecie. She must feel awful." 

"Even if she had stayed here there probably wasn't anything she could have done." Anubis pointed out. 

"But she still feels bad nonetheless." Ryo answered. 

"As if she didn't have enough on her mind already." Sakura said looking at Alecie as Rowen took her hand. 

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked her. She turned to him and smiled. 

"You mean you can't tell?" she asked.

"Can't tell what?" Ryo asked puzzled. Sakura laughed. 

"Well if you haven't figured it out by now, then I'm not going to tell you." She said as she sped up her speed. Ryo looked at her then at the others. 

"Do you know what she is talking about?" he asked. They all shook their heads as he sighed. 

_'Women.' _He thought with a smile. Sakura looked back at them as she shook her head. _'Men!' she thought with a grin. _

A few minutes later Athena started to lead them down. The group followed as they landed at the entrance to a stone tunnel that was located near the outter edges of Star Keeper City. Athena led them inside as they walked through the dark tunnel. They had just rounded a corner when a flashlight beam struck them in the face. The group held up their hands to block the light.

"Who goes there?" A strong voice called out. 

"Joren?" Alecie said stepping forward in to the light. "Is that you?" 

The light dropped as the man stepped forward. 

"Princess Alecie?" Joren asked as she stepped forward for a closer look. "It is you! It's so good to see you alive. Your parents are worried sick." 

"I know, please can you take me too them?" she asked. 

Joren gave a small bow. "Certainly, follow me." Alecie made a gesture to the others to follow her as Joren led them through a series of tunnels. Sakura looked behind her, noting that the sphinx had once again mysteriously disappeared.

"This place is like a labyrinth." Cye said after a while. 

"Probably why this is the hideout." Anubis answered. 

"A person could get lost down here for days if they didn't know they right way to go." He added.

"Where do you suppose all these tunnels lead?" Sakura wondered aloud. 

"Probably a dead end." Ryo said coming up next to her. 

"Or some of them could be alternate ways out." Rowen guessed. The group turned silent as they came upon a passage that was more lit than the others. Joren led them down a flight of stairs; at the bottom the tunnel panned out into an enormous underground room. Cloudrunners were everywhere, huddled in little groups and talking to one another. The cloudrunners fell silent when Alecie entered the room. All eyes turned to the princess as they looked at her with respect and relief that one of their royal family was safe. But the relief faded when they caught sight of the blue E glowing on the Ronins shoulders. Whispers filled the air as Joren led them silently through the room. 

"Why are they all staring at us like that?" Sakura quietly asked Ryo as she moved closer to him in discomfort from the stares and whispers. "It's like they are ready to jump us." 

"I get the feeling that we aren't wanted here." Rowen said as they passed through that room to enter another tunnel. 

"Alecie, why were we stared at like that?" Anubis asked. Alecie looked at him from the corner of her eye as she continued to follow Joren, not answering his question. Anubis was about to ask again but as soon as he opened his mouth they entered another room, similar to the last. At the far end of the room were two thrones. Upon them sat…

"Father! Mother!" Alecie said breaking away from the others and running to her parents. King Tallas looked up surprised as he hugged his oldest daughter tightly. 

"Oh Lecie, we were so worried about you." He said lovingly. 

"I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to worry you." She said as the king looked up and spied the ronins. 

All kindness left the man's eyes as he stared at the Ronins. 

"Who are they?" he asked coldly as his eyes rested on the E showing on the Ronins shoulder.


	15. chapter fourteen

Alecie looked at the Ronins then back to her father, taking a deep breath. She had anticipated this reaction. 

"Father, these are the Ronin warriors, I have brought them to help us." She said. King Tallas gave his daughter a piercing look then turned his attention the Ronins.

"I'm sorry for your inconvenience, but my daughter was wrong, we don't need your help." He said as he turned his back, preparing to leave. 

"Father!" Alecie said trying to get her father to reconsider is decision. "I saw what the city looks like. This is going to turn into a war. We can't win this on our own…" Alecie was cut off as her father turned around with an angry look. 

"Yes, you are right, this is turning out to be the beginning of a war, but we do not need the help of …." He gave a nasty look to the Ronin's "earthwalkers." He spat. 

Alecie looked to the Ronin's with an apologetic look. "Then I brought them here for nothing." She said. 

"You should have thought of that before you abandoned your people." Her father said to her. Alecie scowled as she took a step closer to her father. 

"That's not true! I was trying to help my people. I had a feeling that this was going to turn into something big and I was right! We can't win this alone…."

"Silence!" King Tallas yelled as Alecie took a small step back. "I will not have my daughter talk to me that way." Alecie bowed her head unsure of what to do. She knew that the Ronin's help would be required, but her father refused to listen to reason. 

"Your Highness." Sakura spoke up as she stepped out of the cluster of her friends. King Tallas looked her over assessing her.

"Who are you?" he demanded. 

"I am Sakura Sanada." She said giving a slight bow. "And I believe that me and my friends will be able to help you. We have encountered Broadway before; we know the way he works. I think that we could be a valuable asset in helping you defeat him." 

"You?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "A woman? Who fights?" He turned to Alecie. "You brought back a girl warrior? What use is that?" Sakura looked shocked then she took on a look of determination.  Apparently cloudrunner girls weren't allowed to fight as so the king assumed that earthwalker girls couldn't either.

"Don't underestimate me because I'm a girl." Sakura said evenly. "I can fight just as well as Ryo or any of the other Ronins." She said as Ryo and the others nodded to show that this was true. 

"Please your highness, let us help you. And together we can beat Broadway." King Tallas studied Sakura intently. She was persistent he would give her that, and the spark of determination in her eyes reminded him of his own daughter. He gave a deep sigh.

"I'll tell you what. I will allow you to stay the night here. I will talk this over with my advisors and generals. I will let you know in the morning if you are allowed to stay or not." 

Sakura gave a bow. "I thank you, your highness." She said. King Tallas looked at her before her turned to Alecie. 

"Alecie Lynette" he said as she gave a small cringe. She was defiantly in trouble. "You will show these…Ronins to a place that they can stay for tonight. Then, I want to talk with you." 

Alecie gave a small bow. "Yes sir." She said obediently as she walked out of the room, the ronin's following her. After they were out of hearing distance Rowen spoke up. 

"Why didn't you tell us what your father's reaction was going to be?" he asked. Alecie hung her head. She knew that this was going to happen.

"Because, I was afraid that if I said something that you wouldn't have come. And we desperately need your help. My father knows it too he just…doesn't like to admit it."

Everyone fell silent as she led them to another room. 

"I'm sorry. I'm going to talk to my father. Maybe he will allow you to stay." She said. "Please don't hold this against him. He really is a good ruler; he is just trying to do what is best for the cloudrunners." 

"We understand." Rowen said. Alecie flashed him a grateful smile "I will be back soon." She said as she left to go talk to her father. Once she had left everyone sat down.

"Well, that was interesting." Ryo finally commented. 

"Defiantly not the reaction I was expecting." Cye said. 

"Why do you think that the king hates us so much?" Rowen asked.

"I don't think is it us personally, but all earthwalkers." Sakura said. 

"I guess the best thing for us to do it to just wait and see how things turn out." Anubis said. Everyone nodded as they sat there, waiting for Alecie's return


	16. chapter fifteen

Alecie walked toward the room that she knew her father was in. She was dreading the lecture she was going to get and she knew it was going to be a big one. She stopped at the entrance, listening to the voices of her mother and father talking. She took a deep breath as she knocked and entered the room. King Tallas looked at his oldest daughter as she entered the room. 

"Alecie what did you think you were doing?" Her father demanded of her. Alecie flinched at the anger in his voice, but she understood why he was so upset. She was normally very obedient. Oh sure, she had her little rebellious streaks every once in a while, what child didn't, but she had never completely defiled the law before. 

"I was trying to help." She said looking at her father.

"By going to get earthwalkers!" he said. "And on top of that, stealing six stones from the treasury and leading them here." 

"I didn't steal those stones!" Alecie argued back hotly. "You gave them to me yourself. I've gotten one every three years since I was born. I only took the ones that belonged to me." 

"That still doesn't change the fact that you gave them to an earthwalker, and not just one but six!" King Tallas roared enraged. 

"But they can help us!" Alecie protested. "Athena told me…." 

"Athena." Alecie's mother sighed. "Has that sphinx been filling your head with stories again?" she asked.

"They aren't stories mother!" Alecie replied in defense of her friend. "Everything Athena tells me is true, she had seen it." 

"That may be true." The queen said. "But that still doesn't give you a good reason to do what you did." 

"I really believe that they can help us." Alecie protested. "I know that they are only earthwalkers but, I don't know, I just feel like I can trust them and that they could really help." 

King Tallas rested his head in his hand exasperated. "Lecie," he said gently. "I know that you were only trying to help your people, and that is a good thing and I'm proud of the initiative you took; but getting help from the earthwalkers is just out of the question." 

"I still don't understand why!" Alecie said.

"You know what happened last time we cloudrunners let earthwalkers help don't you?" her father questioned. Alecie nodded. How could she not know. She had learned it in classes every year. A long time ago cloudrunners and earthwalkers lived in harmony together. Then the earthwalkers started getting afraid of how numerous the cloudrunners were getting and started branding them and turning them into slaves. (Same thing that happened to the Israelites in Egypt, minus the branding). This turned the cloudrunners to the skies and from then on it became cloudrunner law to never have contact with earthwalkers. 

Alecie sighed. "Why don't you at least give them a chance?" she asked pleadingly. 

"I don't know if we can take that kind of a risk." Her father said. Alecie knew he was right, they really weren't in a position to accept help from people they really didn't know. Alecie looked down at the floor sadly. 

"I'll tell you what, I will talk this over with the generals and advisors. If I get a majority vote to let them stay, then they can stay." Alecie looked hopeful, there was still a chance. 

"Will they get a chance to plead their case?" she asked. King Tallas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 

"We'll see." He said. Alecie smiled. 

"Thank you father." She said. King Tallas smiled as his daughter as she hugged him. 

"Now, go talk to them, but be careful. Understand?" 

"Yes, sir." She said as she ran out the room. King Tallas leaned back in his chair as he looked at his wife. 

"Am I doing the right thing?" he asked her. She  looked at him thinking. 

"You are giving them a chance to plead their case. That is more than a lot of others would do. But Alecie seems to trust them, and she doesn't give that out easily." 

"True. And from what I have seen they seem to be decent people. Very determined and genuinely wanting to help." King Tallas said thinking of the girl that had stepped forward.

"That girl, the one who stepped forward, she seemed a little familiar to me." 

"Yes, she did." The queen answered. "But where would we know her from?" King Tallas shrugged. 

"I do not know." He said as he stood up and held out his hand to his wife. "Come, we must go meet with the generals." King Tallas's wife nodded as she took her husband's outstretched hand and the two of them walked out of the room.  
 


	17. chapter sixteen

Alecie made her way back to the room that she had left the Ronin's in. 

'_They still have a chance.'_ She thought. _'If they can just convince the counsel that they want to help then we could win this.' _Once she entered the room the group stood up. 

"How did it go?" Rowen asked. 

"Well, you are all going to have to plead your case to the counsel, but if you do it them you guys can stay." She said. 

"Alright, then let's do this." Sage said. Aleice bowed her head. 

"I don't know how to thank you guys for putting up with all this." She said quietly. "I mean, I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to help us." 

"Think nothing of it." Rowen said moving closer to her. "We'll do anything we can to help." Alecie gave a him a smile that sent Rowen's heart fluttering. 

"When is this meeting?" Ryo asked. 

"First thing tomorrow morning." Alecie said. "My father is talking to them right now, he will give them a night to think it over, and then tomorrow you make your case and then my father will talk with them again and then they decide." 

"Alright, we'll be ready." Cye answered. 

"Until then, I have found a room that you guys can stay in that is a bit more comfortable than this one. Follow me." She said as she led them out of their current room and headed down a previous hallway. She led them past the first room they had come to and ushered them into an adjoining room with five separate beds. 

"There are only five beds here." She said as she entered the room. "Sakura, you can stay with me if you would like." She said turning to her. Sakura looked to Ryo, getting his opinion as he gave her a nod. 

"That's fine." She said as Alecie gave a smile. "Well then let's go. I'll be back for you guys early in the morning." She said. She walked to the door, Ryo and Sakura following her. Once out in the hall, Alecie moved down the hall to give Ryo and Sakura their good nights privately.

"Are you sure that you want me to stay with her tonight?" Sakura asked. Ryo smiled. 

"I think that it would be good for you to share a room with another girl again." He said. "It's only one night, and I know how you sometimes miss sharing a room with Mia and Alanna." 

"Thanks," she said as she gave him a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow." Ryo squeezed her hand. 

"Good night." 

"Night." She replied as he watched her join Alecie down the end of the hall. He turned back and entered the room. After the guys had gotten settled they started a conversation about tomorrow's meeting. 

"What do you guys think our chances of persuading the king to let us stay are?" Anubis asked. 

"I'm not to sure. Alecie seems to think we have some kind of chance." Rowen answered. 

"You just want to stay because you like Alecie." Sage said. Rowen blushed.

"No I don't." he said throwing a pillow at Sage. 

"Yeah! You do. It's so obvious." Sage teased throwing the pillow back. Rowen deftly caught it as he gave Sage a look. 

"Yeah, this coming from the guy that still hasn't told Alanna how much you like her." He taunted. Sage turned beet red as the others guys gave him smirks. 

"I'm going to tell her." He protested. "Eventually." He added. 

"Seriously, it's better to get over with. I remember how nervous I was about telling Sakura I loved her." Ryo advised. 

"Yeah, well, not everybody had it as easy as you did." Sage answered, 

"Easy?" Ryo scoffed. "She was Talpa's daughter! The only child of the person we were fighting against! You want to tell me that that was easy?" 

"He's got a point." Anubis interjected. "I remember Sakura telling me how hard it was for her." 

"Okay, so it wasn't that easy." Sage admitted. He then got a grin on his face as they looked at him curiously. 

"What?" Cye asked.   
"I just thought of something. If Sakura ends up following in her father's footsteps. That would make Ryo the next Talpa!" Ryo threw a pillow at the laughing Sage as the guys started to roughhouse around the room, laughing hysterically.


	18. chapter seventeen

Alecie led Sakura to her room located a few hallways down from the boys. "This is where me and you are going to be staying." She said as Sakura looked around the room. It was a stone room with two beds, and a couch for sitting and a small window near the ceiling letting the girls have a view of the stars. 

"Nice." Sakura said entering the room. The two girls prepared to go to bed as Sakura took the soaring stone out of her pocket, her wings fading as she set it on the bed. 

"What do you think our chances of convincing this counsel to let us help are going to be?" she asked the princess. Alecie looked at her sitting on the side of the bed. 

"I honestly don't know. It could go both ways." She said. Sakura nodded as she moved across the room. 

"I have another question. Why did your father think that I couldn't fight because I'm a girl?" 

Alecie looked apologetic. "Cloudrunner girls aren't allowed to fight. It's always been that way. My father says that it's a man's job to protect his family. And it is the king's job to protect those who have no family, like widows and orphans." 

"That may be true, but sometimes the guys need help." Sakura said. "I've saved Ryo a few times." She said thinking of the whole fire incident back when they were still fighting against each other. 

"Really?" Alecie asked interested. "How?" 

"Well there was a fire, and I got him out. Although I was the one who started the fire." She added sheepishly. Alecie tilted her head to the side. 

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

"Long story." Sakura answered with a grin. The two were silent for a moment when Sakura broke the silence.

"I have kind of a personal question to ask you." She said. Alecie looked at her.

"What?" 

"Do you like Rowen?" she asked. Alecie ducked her head trying to hide the blush arising in her cheeks. 

"No." she said unconvincingly. 

Sakura raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Alecie turned her head to look out the window. 

"It's not like I could do anything about it even if I did." She said softly. Sakura looked her puzzled.

"Why not?" 

"he's an earthwalker; I'm a cloudrunner.  I'm a princess, and he's not a prince. My father would be furious; he would never give his consent to even date him. Even the thought of it goes against the law. My father would probably disown me."

Sakura gave a small smile. "I know what your talking about." She said. Alecie turned from staring out the window to the woman sitting on the bed across from her. 

"How could you? Ryo looks like one of those guys that every parent dreams for their little girl to marry."  

"He is." Sakura said. "But I didn't really have a normal parent." Seeing Alecie's confused expression Sakura launched into detail. 

"You see, my father, he wanted to rule the world. The only thing standing in his way was a group of five warriors. And I bet you can guess that Ryo was one of those five." Alecie looked surprised. 

"How did you two end up falling in love?" 

Sakura smiled. "Well, I was sent on a spy mission, and I was to earn their trust and find out why my father couldn't beat them. So I did, I stayed with them and sometime between when I first met him and when I actually told him, I fell in love." 

"Looks like me and you and I aren't so different after all huh?" Alecie said. Sakura nodded with a smile. 

"Both forbidden to love a Ronin, but we do anyway." Alecie blushed but didn't deny the statement. Instead she lay down on her back, staring up at the stone ceiling. 

"Sakura, How does your father treat you now that your married to Ryo?" 

Sakura turned her head away, looking at the wall for a minute before answering. "My father is…gone." She said.

"You mean dead?" Alecie asked quietly. Sakura shook her head.

"No, just….gone." she answered. She really didn't feel like telling Alecie that her father was banished to the spirit world, and that it was partly her fault that he got there and she still felt guilty about it too. Even if it was the right thing to do.

"How is he just…gone?" Alecie asked trying to understand. 

"Long story." Sakura replied. 

"Everything about you seems to be." Alecie said with a small smile. Sakura frowned then returned the smile. 

"yeah..I guess that's true huh?" she said with a laugh. 

 "What was your fathers name?"  Alecie asked curiously. 

"Talpa." She responded. Alecie's eyes widened.

_'Talpa!'_


	19. chapter eighteen

Alecie said no more that night and soon Sakura fell asleep. Alecie stared at the stone ceiling, lost in thought. 

_'Her father is Talpa! That isn't good. I just hope that she keeps her mouth shut. If father ever finds out then there is no chance that she can stay, that's for sure.'_

The morning sun shone in through the high window of Alecie and Sakura's window. When Alecie woke, Sakura was already moving around the room, the wings from the soaring stone back on her back. 

"Good morning." Alecie said as Sakura turned around. 

"Right back to ya." Sakura answered cheerfully. The two girls got dressed as they went to meet the boys. When they got there they found them cleaning up feathers from their little pillow fight from the previous night. 

"What happened in here?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Nothing." Ryo replied as Sage choked back a laugh. Sakura shook her head. 

"Come on, it's time for us to go and plead our case." She said as they followed Alecie to where the king and counsel were waiting. Alecie stopped at the entrance to two large wooden doors. 

"I will be sitting next to my father. I wish you all good luck." She said as she entered the doors. The Ronins took a deep breath and went in after her. The room contained a long table that looked like a giant U were generals and advisors sat staring at the warriors as they walked in. At the head of the table sat King Tallas, with the queen on his right side and Alecie on his left. In the back of the room stood the man they had met last night, Joren, who appeared to be guarding the door. Alecie gave a smile of encouragement as they walked until they stood in the middle of the U. 

"Ronins." King Tallas said his strong voice shaking the room. "You are here to plead your case as to whether you are friend or foe. You are earthwalkers, brought here by my daughter. Earthwalkers and cloudrunners do not associate and yet you proclaim to want to help. Why?" 

Ryo took a deep breath. It had been decided last night that he would be the main spokesperson with Sakura saying a few well choiced words, but the main speaking was up to him. 

_'Lucky me.'_ He thought with a grimace as he looked around at the cold stares. 

"My name is Ryo Sanada. We were brought here by the Princess Alecie to help the cloudrunners in their fight against The Illusionist, also known as Broadway. We have had encounters with him before and I believe that we could be a valuable asset to your team." 

"What kind of encounters?" an advisor asked. 

"He tried recently to gain control of something of ours in an attempt to help him and a friend to take over the world. But his friend was killed and the thing he was after was destroyed." Ryo had been ready for that question. He had a feeling that they were going to ask about their meeting with Broadway and he didn't think that it would have helped them very much if he had said that he brainwashed his wife. So he told them that what they had been after was destroyed not knowing that it was the jewel that Broadway had been after and not the shadowrunner.

"What do you have that would be such a help?" one of the generals asked. 

"We each have an armor. Each armor with it's own special ability and powered by a trait." Ryo said. 

"What armor do you possess?" another general asked with semi interest.

"I am the bearer of the armor of the wildfire." He said. He then turned to the other Ronins. 

"This is Sage, bearer of the armor of the Halo." Sage gave a small bow. "This is Cye, bearer of the armor of the Torrent, Rowen, bearer of the armor of Strata…" Alecie gave a small smile. _'Strata, that is associated with the sky. Rowen's armor is of the sky.' She thought with a smile._

Ryo continued to introduce each Ronin, who gave a bow if respect when their name was called. 

"And this," he said as he came to Sakura. "Is my wife, Sakura Sanada, bearer of the armor of the Cyclone." 

"A girl." One of the advisors sniffed. "What use is she?" Sakura fought to keep her temper down as Ryo gave her a look of warning not to let it get out of control. He knew she hated it when people underestimated her fighting abilities because she was a girl and she often worked harder to prove herself as a fighter than any of them which often put her in dangerous situations.

"As I have stated before." Sakura said calmly stepping up next to Ryo. "Do not underestimate me because I am a girl. I think the others can verify that I can fight just as well as any man. My father trained me himself, and often used me in his own battles." 

"And who might your father be young lady?" a general asked. 

Alecie clenched her fists in worry. _'Don't say it Sakura, don't tell them!' _

"Talpa." She said as a roar went up in the room. The Generals and advisors stood up instantly and began yelling and making threatening gestures toward Sakura as the King stood up as well. Sakura looked around in shock clearly not expecting this reaction as Ryo stood in a protective stance next to her letting any cloudrunner in the room know that if they even took a step toward her they would have to go through him first. 

Alecie shook her head, _'I should have warned her.'_ She thought with regret. 


	20. chapter ninteen

"That is enough!" The king roared as everyone stopped their yelling and turned their eyes to the king. "I will not have my counsel act this way." 

"We must do away with her sire before she kills us all in our sleep!" one general yelled as he pointed at Sakura as the others voiced their agreement. Sakura took a frightened step toward Ryo who put a protective arm around her. 

"We will do nothing of the sort!" King Tallas said. 

"You honestly can't expect us to let that child of a monster stay do you?" another man asked angrily. 

"No, but we will decide this calmly." The king ordered. "They have made their case, we will now discuss it. Alecie if you would take them outside." He said giving his daughter a look from the side. Alecie nodded silently as she escorted them out, Sakura hanging her head. Once they were outside in the hall Sakura faced the others.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know my father had made enemies all the way up here!" she said earnestly. 

"It's alright." Ryo said soothingly. "You didn't know." 

"Why did they react that way?" Rowen asked. 

"My father just seems to have that kind of effect on people." Sakura said pointedly. 

"It's because of what happened a long time ago." Alecie spoke up. "A long time ago, Cloudrunners and earthwalkers lived together, but we soon came to outnumber the earthwalkers because we live slightly longer than you. A few of them started to get scared, afraid that we would out number that we would take over and become the dominate race. So instead of letting that happen, we became little more than slaves.  We were branded with a number on our arm, some of our elders still have theirs marks as proof. But even though we had been reduced to mere slaves that still wasn't good enough for some people."

"Let me guess, my father was one of them." Sakura interjected. 

Alecie nodded as Sakura turned her face away. 

"He was one of the worst. Back before he was banished, he led many revolts in trying to get people to kill their cloudrunner slaves. He even managed to convince a few to actually do it. That was when the cloudrunners fled to the skies, never to have contact with earthwalkers again."  Alecie finished. 

"Why didn't you say something last night when I told you?" Sakura asked Alecie. 

"That was a mistake on my part. I honestly didn't think that this subject would come up. I should have warned you though and now I will pay the price. Now that they know there is almost a zero percent chance that they will let you stay and help." 

"It's all my fault." Sakura said. Ryo hugged her close to him for comfort as the others looked on unsure of what to say. 

After they had waited for a while Cye broke the silence.

"Does it normally take this long to decide this kind of a thing?" he asked Alecie. She shook her head. 

"No, they should have made their decision by now. I wonder what's taking them so long." 

"I bet that is has something to do with who my father is." Sakura said. Just then the wooden doors opened as Joren's head poked through and gave a nod to Alecie. 

"Alright, lets go." She said as she led them back inside. Sakura stayed close to Ryo for comfort as every eye in the room loathingly watched her every move. When they stood in the middle and Alecie had taken her seat the king stood up. 

"You ronins have pled you case well." He began. "You genuinely seem to want to help and you seem to also have a feud with Broadway that could help us. The counsel and I have deliberated and we have decided that the Ronins may stay, but the girl goes." There was a titter going around the room about the final decision. The fact that the princess herself had brought them had swayed heavily in their favor, and the fact that they also had a reason to defeat Broadway gave them another boost. But the girl being the daughter of Talpa made many of the cloudrunners remember the old times and they were filled with a longstanding grudge. 

Ryo stepped forward after the announcement. "Sakura is a part of the Ronin warriors." He said forcefully. "And I think that I speak for all of us when I say that if she goes, then we go." There was a murmur of agreement spreading through the group with an especially loud yes of agreement from Anubis. 

After all he had worked for Talpa as well, longer than his own daughter had. And if they were going to discriminate against her, he knew they would do the same to him. 

"We would appreciate the help that you could give us." The king said. "But I cannot allow her to stay. Her father…" 

"Who cares who her father is?" Rowen spoke up on Sakura's behalf. 

"Yeah, just because her father was like that doesn't mean she is." Sage agreed. 

"I mean, look who she is married to! The leader of the group that her father was fighting against!" Cye added. Sakura gave her friends a look of gratefulness. The king looked at her for a moment. 

"Is this true?" He asked looking at Ryo and Sakura. Sakura gave a small nod as she stepped forward until she was standing alone in the middle of the floor. 

"Your highness." She began respectfully.  "I admit that my father wasn't the best person." This comment received many grunts of agreement which she ignored. 

"And I am not proud of all the things that he has done, but I am not my father. I haven't always agreed with everything he has done. I ask that you and the counsel will give me a chance to prove myself, to show that I am not like my father." 

The king looked at her face as she pleaded with the counsel. He gave a deep sigh as he saw the sincerity in her eyes. 

"You may stay." He said as the counsel gave roars of disapproval. King Tallas held up his hand for silence as they resentfully sat back down. 

"But, until further notice, you are not to be without an escort at all times. Do you understand?" 

Sakura gave a bow. "Yes your majesty." The king nodded. 

"Counsel is dismissed."


	21. chapter twenty

Alecie gave a happy look at the Ronins as the counsel filed out of the room, some shooting looks at Sakura. Sakura avoided their gaze; it was obvious she wasn't welcome. The king approached the ronins as he held out a hand. 

"I thank you for you willingness to help in our time of need." He said shaking Ryo's hand. Ryo nodded. 

"I am King Tallas." He said as he turned to Alecie. "Lecie, if you would show the ronin's around the hideout. I'm sure that you remember your way around." Alecie nodded as he gave his daughter a smile then left the room. Alecie turned to the ronins.

"I can't believe it! You got them to let you stay! That in itself is something to be proud of." 

"I thought you said that we had a chance." Rowen asked with a grin. 

"Well, technically you did." She began when Sakura cut her off.

"Until I had to open my big mouth and tell them who my father is." Sakura said standing off to the side. Alecie lowered her eyes. She could sympathize how she must feel. Ryo walked over to her. 

"Look, we are allowed to stay aren't we?" he said trying to cheer her up. "Don't feel bad about it." Sakura shook her head. 

"I'm not. I'm over it." She said. Ryo smiled. 

"Come on. I'll show you were everything is." Alecie said gesturing with her hand for them to follow. Alecie's tour showed them everything. The hideout was like another palace in itself but bigger because it was needed to hide almost all of the cloudrunner population of Star Keeper City. There were rooms for everything, even a place for the warriors to train in. As they passed through other rooms, the stares they received so much didn't seem so hostile as they had before.  At the end of the tour Alecie brought them to a hallway that led to a dead end. The hallway consisted of four different rooms before leading back out into the main hallway. 

"This is where you guys will be staying for the rest of your stay." She said. "You guys can stay here and Ryo and Sakura, you guys can stay here." The group nodded in appreciation. Alecie turned to leave before turning around again. 

"By the way, to night there will be a dinner to introduce you to the rest of the people. There are clothes provided for you. I will come for you when it is time." 

"Hey, thanks!" Sage said. Alecie shook her head. 

"It's the least I could do. You guys went through so much all because I asked for your help. I thank you." 

"Alecie." Ryo called to her. "What do you think the chances of our friends being able to come are?" Alecie thought for a moment. 

"I shall talk to my father. But I say that since he allowed you to all stay that it's good possibility." 

"Thank you." Sakura said. 

Alecie nodded sweetly as she then left, leaving the ronins alone to talk.

"Well, I guess we had better get ready." Cye said as the others nodded in agreement. The group split up, going into their rooms. Sakura walked into her and Ryo's room, surveying the surroundings. It was quite nice. More furnished than any of their previous rooms had been. Sakura opened the closet to find a closet full of clothes for her and Ryo. 

"How do I look?" she asked after she had gotten dressed. 

"Beautiful." Ryo said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead. Just then there was a knock on their door. Ryo opened to door to find Alecie and the others. 

"Ready?" she asked. The both nodded as they stepped outside. Alecie led them through the hallways until they got to the banquet hall. 

"You will each be escorted in." she said. "Except for Ryo and Sakura because they can escort each other." 

"Who is escorting you?" Rowen asked. Alecie blushed. 

"Well, I was hoping that one of you wouldn't mind. Would you Rowen?" she asked as she smiled at him. Rowen felt a blush rise as he held out his arm to her. Alecie looped her arm through his as Sakura did the same to Ryo. The others were escorted in by a few cloudrunner girls. They entered the hall as King Tallas stood to greet them. The hall consisted of the generals and advisors along with a few others. The dinner went smoothly for the most part, although Sakura still noticed the stares she received. Later that night after everyone was asleep, Sakura snuck out of her and Ryo's room. Ryo woke up in time to see her close the door softly behind her. He got up and followed her from a distance, wondering where she was going. He found her in the training room. She had transformed into her sub armor as she practiced with her sword. Ryo stayed in the corner watching her when he took a step forward. At that moment Sakura spun around and pointed her sword at his chest. 

"Stalking is illegal, Ryo." She said with a small smile. 

"I wasn't stalking you." He said as she lowered her sword. 

"You were following from a distance, and watching my every move and making sure that I didn't see you. That can be classified as stalking." She said. 

"Fine, but I wasn't the one who was breaking the escort at all times rule." He pointed out. Sakura's eyes lowered as Ryo realized he struck a nerve. 

"Hey, you okay?" he asked as he moved closer to her. 

"When is it going to stop?" she asked quietly. "Every where I go my father's bad name follows me." Ryo hugged her close as she rested her head on his shoulders. 

"It will be okay." He said. "You're a good person, and everyone here will see that you are nothing like your father." Sakura smiled at him.

"Thanks Ryo." She said. He gave her a smile as he kissed her. 

"Come on, lets go back to sleep. Tomorrow, the others are coming and then we all meet with the generals to find out what Broadway had been up to so far." 


	22. chapter twenty one

Meliara forcefully strode her way into the throne room of Seriyu's floating castle. Broadway looked up at her as she came to stand in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"What the heck is going on here, Broadway?" she demanded to know. "You were supposed to capture the king and queen, but you let them get away!" Broadway looked calmly as his angry sister.

"Don't worry about a thing, Meliara." He said. "I have everything under control. I know what I'm doing." 

"Then you mind filling me in?" she asked. "I know you saw them escaping with that sphinx and you could have captured them but instead all you decided to do was kidnap a few cloudrunners! Then you killed the rest!" 

"Patience dear sister." Broadway said. "The king and queen are no longer our target." Meliara looked at him in surprise. 

"What? But without the king and queen we have no way of making the rest do as we say." 

"Plans have changed. I was informed that the princess went and asked the Ronins's for help." Broadway said. 

"The Ronins are here!" she exclaimed. Broadway nodded. 

"Yes. And that changes everything." Meliara crossed her arms with a snarl. 

"That stupid princess. We should have gotten rid of her when we had the chance." 

"No, I like it better this way." Broadway said with a smirk. "Trust me. Things are going to work out perfectly." The two were silent for a moment when Broadway changed the subject. 

"How are our little servants doing?" he asked in reference to the captured cloudrunners. 

"They are doing fine. The crystal has made them completely loyal to you." Meliara said. Broadway smiled as he took out the red jewel and fingered it. 

"So is that what it does?" Meliara asked curiously walking forward so she could look at it. "Take control of their minds?" 

"No, it does more than that. They feel no pain and know only what I tell them. But that isn't the half of what this little gem can do." 

"What else does it do?" Meliara asked curiously. Broadway's evil smile deepened. 

"You shall see. And I know the perfect person to test it out on." 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ryo and Sakura woke up the next morning and walked over to their friend's room across the hall. Once everyone was ready they made their way to the room that the counsel had had their trial the day before. They opened the large doors to reveal the king and Alecie, the counsel, and their friends, Dais, Kento, Cale, and Sekhmet. Who also now had wings and had arrived earlier that morning. 

"Hey guys." Ryo said. "How was the flight up here?" 

"You should have seen it. Kento was a mess." Dais said with a laugh. Kento turned red with embarrassment.

"Yeah, well it's not as easy as it looks you know." He said in defense. Sakura looked at their wings. Dais and Cale had wings like Anubis, large and bat like. Sekhmet and Kento, on the other hand had big burly looking wings that were a tawny sort of color. 

"What kind of wings does Kento have?" Sakura asked curiously. 

"Kento and Sekhmet have the wings of a stormrider. They are the strongest flyers and can stand up to the stronger winds than many of us can." Kento got a smug look on his face. 

"I hope I don't blow you guys away." He said as everyone rolled their eyes. 

"Now that everyone is here. We can begin the meeting." King Tallas said. Everyone sat down and gave their attention to the king. 

"So far, what has happened is that Broadway attacked Star Keeper City and Skybax City. He had taken many of our people as hostages and killed many others. I do not yet know what he plans to do with the hostages but so far we have not gotten any communications of a ransom."

"I really don't think that Broadway is after money your highness." Anubis broke in. "He really has no need for it. What he wants is to rule the world."

"Then what do you think he wants from the cloudrunners?" Sage asked. "I mean what does he have to gain from attacking the cloudrunners and kidnapping some of them?" 

"Maybe he was after the king and queen but they obviously got away." A general spoke up. 

"Maybe. But why take hostages if it was the king and queen he was after?" Ryo asked. 

"Maybe he plans to try to trade the hostages for the king." Rowen suggested. 

"That's possible. But if that happens, what next? I mean what is his ultimate goal?" Sakura asked. The room was quiet as everyone thought. No one could really think of a reason for him to want the king and queen. Just then the door swung open as Joren and a man walked in the. The man greatly resembled the king and it became clear why when Alecie gave a squeal. 

"Marcus!" she yelled as she ran to hug her older brother. Marcus gave her a squeeze. 

"Hey Lecie. Heard you went to recruit earthwalkers." He said with a smile. Alecie blushed. 

"yeah." She admitted. Marcus gave her a wink. 

"Good job. Just wish I had thought of it myself." He said. King Tallas gave a frown. 

"Don't encourage her." He said with a small smile.  Marcus rolled his eyes then got serious. 

"Father, me and Joren just heard that Broadway is on his way to Misty City and he is planning to attack." King Tallas stood up. 

"How soon will he be there?" He asked. 

"At the earliest by sunset." King Tallas frowned 

"That doesn't give us much time."  He muttered. 

"There is something else." Marcus said. "His army…his army consists of the captured cloudrunners." He said sadly. The room looked at him in shock. 

"You mean, the cloudrunners that he captured are fighting for him?" Alecie said. "All of them?" Marcus nodded gravely. King Tallas clenched his fists. 

"I want every available warrior to head for Misty City, now. We will fight to defend our city." He ordered.

"But Sire, what about the cloudrunners?" a general asked hesitantly. King Tallas' eyes saddened as slowly walked to the door. "They have obviously betrayed their race, so they will die like traitors." He said sadly as he walked out the room. 


	23. chapter twenty two

Sakura and Ryo flew silently side by side, following the pack of cloudrunners ahead of them. Right after Marcus had brought news of the soon to be attack on Misty City, King Tallas had called every available cloudrunner warrior and took off immediately for Misty City. They were nearing their destination, long before Broadways expected time of attack. Once they landed, they gathered around the king. 

"We will make camp here." He said. "Everyone be on the lookout for any sign of attack." The group nodded as they dispersed. The Ronins had found a place off to the side when they heard a sound.

"Psst!" 

"What was that?" Sakura asked. 

"What was what?" Ryo said looking at her confused. 

"Pssst!" 

"That!" She said as she turned around. 

"Over here!" a familiar voice said. 

"Wait! I know who that is." Rowen said. "Lecie! Is that you?" he asked. Alecie stepped out of the shadows of a nearby building. 

"Not so loud! My father might hear you!" she said urgently. 

"What the heck are you doing here!" Rowen said. "Your father told you to stay in the hideout." 

Alecie crossed her arms. "Yeah! I know." She said pouting. King Tallas had made Alecie stay, saying it was too dangerous. So after they left, Alecie followed them from behind. 

"It isn't safe here!" Rowen protested. "You should go back to the hideout right now!" 

"No! I want to help." She said. 

"You can't." Sage butted in. "You could seriously get hurt." 

"I'm not afraid." Alecie said stubbornly. 

"We are going to your father right now!" Rowen said as he grabbed her arm. Alecie looked at Rowen.

"No, Rowen. Please let me stay! I won't get in the way. I promise. I just can't sit back at the hideout wondering if everyone is ok. Please Rowen, Let me stay!" She looked at him, her sky blue eyes pleading with him to allow her to stay. Rowen's heart melted at the look as he gave a sigh. 

"All right." He said. 

"Are you serious?!" Ryo asked him. "She could really get hurt." 

"Lecie, just promise me that you will stay close to me when the fighting starts and that you will do exactly as I say." Rowen said as he looked at her. 

Alecie nodded fervently. "I promise." She said. Sakura shook her head. 

"I have a bad feeling about this guys." She said. 

"I'm not going to be a burden, Sakura. I just want to be here in case my help is needed." Alecie said. Sakura nodded slowly. 

"Yeah, I know how you feel. But if your dad ever finds out we're in big trouble." She said. 

"Then we'll just have to make sure he doesn't know." She said as a shadow covered her. Alecie turned around to find her father giving her a stern look, Marcus grinning behind him. 

"Make sure he doesn't know what?" he said as Alecie shrank back. 

"I'm sorry." She mumbled as King Tallas shook his head. 

"I want you to go back, right now." He said sternly. Alecie shook her head. "No, dad, please." 

"Alecie Lynette Ryder, it is too dangerous." He said. 

"Dad, I could help. Please, I'll stay close to Rowen. Please." 

King Tallas looked at her then to Rowen who had a protective glint in his eye. King Tallas gave a sigh. He might as well let her stay, even if he told her go back he knew she would have stayed anyway and at least this way he knew that Rowen was looking out for her. And while he wasn't sure how much he trusted the earthwalker with his daughter's safety at least someone was looking out for her beside him. And he may be mistaken but he thought that Rowen's eyes softened when he looked at her. 

"Fine. But Alecie, be careful." Alecie nodded. King Tallas moved away with Marcus following behind. 

"Father, that earthwalker, Rowen. His wings, they have the golden outline, that means royalty." Marcus said in an undertone. 

"I noticed." King Tallas said evenly. 

"What do you think that means?" Marcus asked. 

"I do not know for sure, but my daughter will not marry an earthwalker. No matter what kind of wings he has."


	24. chapter twenty three

The group was carefully on guard as they waited for Broadway to make his presence known. It was past sundown when they saw a flock of cloudrunners, coming toward them. 

"King Tallas!" Sakura said standing up. "Here they come!" Everyone turned their attention to the cloudrunners as they prepared to fight. As the enemy cloudrunners came nearer, the group was able to see a red diamond shaped mark glittering on the right side of their neck. 

"What is that?" Marcus wondered as he squinted his eyes, trying to make out what it was. 

"It looks like some kind of mark." Sage said as the enemy cloudrunners attacked. Alecie stayed close to Rowen as she had promised as he fought off the offending cloudrunners. 

"Ryo, that mark. It looks familiar." Sakura said as she pushed a cloudrunner away. 

"I know, we've seen it somewhere before. But where?" He said as he warded off an attack. 

The two had to cut their conversation off short as they continued to try to fight off their attackers. Alecie helped at best she could, using the little fighting skills that she had taught herself. 

Broadway and Meliara watched the fight raging below. The two had managed to acquire two soaring stones, and each had their own set of wings. Broadway with the wings of a darkrider and Meliara the wings of a stormsoarer. Stormsoarers could fly in heavy storms without their wings becoming to wet to fly because their wings were resistant to water. 

"Look at them." Broadway said as she held to glowing red jewel in his hands. "Trying their best to defend their city." Meliara said nothing as she scanned the battle. 

"Look, Broadway." She said pointing. "The King is fighting too, now is the perfect time to grab him." 

Broadway shook his head. "No," he said. "We are not after the king; now keep a look out for you know who. If what I was told about her is correct then she should be here." Meliara crossed her arms with a scowl but did as he brother said. After all he was always right about these kinds of things. Meliara suddenly gave a smile.

"There she is." She said pointing. 

Broadway looked in the direction she was pointing and smiled. 

"Perfect. It seems our little spy told the truth." The two flew toward a building and landed on the top roof. 

"Where is he?" Broadway asked impatiently. 

"He'll be here." Meliara said confidently as she flicked her black hair. No sooner had she spoken the words when a shadow passed over head. The figure landed in front of them as Broadway gave a glare. 

"What took you?" He demanded. The man gave a smirk. 

"You were the one that commanded your little mind slaves to attack me as well." He said bluntly. "You said it made it look convincing that I was on their side." 

"It works doesn't it?" Broadway replied smoothly. "They don't suspect a thing."

"They never did." He replied tensely. 

"All right you two." Meliara said breaking the two up before a fight broke out. The two men looked at her as she uncrossed her arms. 

"The girl is over with the ronins. Get her and bring her here. She is not to be harmed understand?" The man nodded as he flew toward his target, Meliara and Broadway watching. 

The man flew overhead circling the battle when he saw her. He dove down and hid in the shadows of a building, taking a cloth out of his pocket. He wet the cloth with a liquid as he moved next to her. She had just fought back a controlled cloudrunner when another advanced upon her. She whirled around and gave a scream as the man who had been hiding behind the building saved her. The girl looked into the eyes of her savior as she gave a sigh of relief. 

"Joren." She said simply as he advanced with an evil glint.   
 "Princess." He replied as he quickly covered her face with the cloth. Alecie tried to scream but it died on her lips as her world went black. 


	25. chapter twenty four

Joren gave an evil smile as the knocked out princess slumped into his arms. He picked her up and moved back into the shadows. Lucky for him, Rowen missed this as he was so busy fighting off the controlled cloudrunners. Once Joren thought he was a good distance away he spread his bat like wings and rose into the air, carrying Alecie with him. Rowen at that moment turned around to check on Alecie. 

"How you doing?" he asked. When she didn't respond he whirled around to find her gone.

"Lecie?" he called. No answer.

"Lecie?" he said louder. He quickly looked around in an attempt to find her when he saw Joren, carrying the unconscious Alecie in his arms. 

"Alecie!" Rowen yelled as spread his wings and took off after Joren. The others, alerted by Rowen's yell looked at him puzzled before realizing what had upset him so much. King Tallas saw his daughter being carried away as he paled. He did the same as Rowen as he took off after Joren, while the others stayed on the ground preventing the enemy cloudrunners from doing any major damage to the city. Joren realized by now that his cover had been blown. He shifted the girl in his arms as he increased his speed, bringing her to Broadway as he had been told to do. Rowen and King Tallas right on his heels. Joren gave a nervous look backwards, they were gaining. 

"A little help would be nice!" he said sarcastically to himself. As if in answer to his statement.  A group of cloudrunners came up behind Joren, blocking the king and Rowen off from their pursuit. Rowen immediately began fighting off the cloudrunners as the king did the same, but by the time they defeat them all it was too late. Joren was gone, taking Alecie with him. Joren gave a smirk when he realized they were gone. He slowed down a bit as he saw Broadway and his sister waiting for him. He landed lightly on the rooftop as he placed Alecie on the ground. Broadway stepped closer and looked at her. 

"Good work." He applauded as he moved over to the edge of the roof to survey the fight that was still going on. Meliara looked at the princess with a sneer. 

"This is who we were after?" she asked. "If we were going to capture a member of the royal family why not get someone like the king or the prince even but we got her!" 

Broadway turned to look at his sister. 

"Trust me on this. It's not her we are after. She is merely the bait needed." 

Meliara looked at him confused. "Who exactly are we after?" she asked exasperated. 

"We can't be after the king, or else we would have gotten him already, we aren't after the prince, we aren't after the princess, so who is left?" Broadway looked evenly at his sister as realization dawned in her eyes. 

"The Ronins." She said simply. Broadway broke into a wide smile. 

"Exactly. From what Joren told us, Rowen seems to have a soft spot concerning this girl." He said looking at the knock out princess. "And he is going to go to any lengths to save her, so his friends are going to help." 

"So we are after Rowen?" Meliara asked trying to fit the pieces together. 

"No." 

"No?" Meliara gave a sigh of annoyance. "Then who?"

"Sakura." He said looking down over at the fight. 

Meliara looked at him like he was crazy. "What?" she yelled. "What is wrong with you? If she was the target the entire time why didn't we just go after her in the beginning!" 

"I wanted to take all suspicions off of her." Meliara calmed down a bit as she waited for her brother to explain. 

"If we had gone after Sakura in the beginning, we most likely never would have gotten her. She is already on guard against things that concern me as it is. So once we captured the princess, I knew that Rowen would enlist his friends help. Now they think we are after someone else like the king or her, but don't realize that it was Sakura we were after the entire time." Meliara thought about what he had just said for a moment. 

_'I guess I see how it makes sense. Although it's a lot of trouble to go through just to get her. Why are we after her?'_ Meliara voiced her question as Broadway looked at her. He took out the red gem and held it up. 

"Because of her lineage." He answered simply looking at Meliara's expression through the crystal. "Her father was an evil man, everyone knows that. And some of that evil had to have passed down to her, whether or not she shows it. It is there. With this crystal that I took from Talpa's castle, I will be able to rule the world through her." Broadway then turned around and picked up Alecie, he then turned and spread his wings. 

"Let's take the princess to Skybax City. We will see how things are going there and then we will plan our next course of action." Broadway instructed as he took off, Meliara and Joren right behind him.


	26. chapter twenty five

Alecie woke with a moan, slowly opening her eyes. She looked around to survey her surroundings. 

_"I'm in my room at the palace in __Skybax__City__." She thought recognizing her bed and familiar decorations. "But how did I get here?" she asked sitting up. _

"What happened?" she asked when she suddenly remembered.   
"Joren!" she said. 

"I see you're awake." Joren said from a shadowed corner. Alecie's eyes saddened.

"Oh no, you're being mind controlled as well." Alecie had figured out that the red mark on the side of the enemy cloudrunners neck was the symbol of whatever was controlling them. 

"On the contrary." Joren said as he tilted his head to show her his unmarked neck. Alecie's eyes turned from sadness to anger. 

"You traitor!" She shouted at him as she lunged at him. Joren easily blocked her fists as she tried desperately to hit him. 

"You're working for them of your own free will!" she said angrily as he pushed her back onto the bed. Alecie landed with a glare as Joren smirked. 

"Yes, I am. And now that you're awake, I can go and complete the next phase of the plan." 

"And what would that be?" she asked trying to find out as much information as she could. Joren shook his finger. 

"Sorry, Princess, but that is for me to know and you to find out." He said as he walked toward the door. 

"Oh and don't even try to escape." He said as he opened the door. "There are guards outside of every door and window, so you stand no chance of being able to get out. And if you leave this room, I can't guarantee your safety. And as long as you cooperate your little Ronin friend will also remain unharmed. " He said as a warning as he left. Alecie threw a pillow at the closed door as she crossed her arms and stared out the window.

"Rowen."  

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I should have been watching her better!" Rowen said angrily to himself as he pounded his fist into the table. "It's all my fault." 

"Calm down Rowen, we'll get her back." Ryo said as he looked at him. Rowen turned angry eyes to Ryo. 

"You wouldn't be saying that if they took Sakura." He pointed out. Ryo said nothing, he was right. He would have still been out there looking for her.  A while after Joren had taken Alecie; the enemy cloudrunners suddenly stopped their fighting and retreated.  The group then moved inside of a building to discuss what to do next. 

"Does any one have any idea of why they took her?" a general asked. 

"Probably to force the king to do as they say." Cale answered. 

"Maybe if we find out where they took her." Sage suggested. 

"They could be anywhere." Dais said. 

"I knew I should have made her go back to the palace." Rowen muttered. 

"You and I both know that she wouldn't have gone." King Tallas said sadly. "She would have just circled back and returned and then we wouldn't even know she was missing." 

Rowen turned to face the king with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry your majesty." He said. "It was all my fault that she got captured." The king placed a hand on Rowen's shoulder. 

"I know you tried your best to protect my daughter, and for that I thank you." Rowen smiled as the others thought about where Joren might have taken her.

"There must be someway we can find out where they took Alecie." Rowen said.

"How about asking the person who took her?" came a voice from the corner. The entire room whirled around to face the owner of the voice as Joren stepped into the room. Rowen glared as he rushed up and grabbed the man by the collar, pinning him against the wall. 

"Where is she!" he demanded to know. Joren smiled in spite of his position. 

"If you don't let me go, you'll never find out." He threatened as Rowen reluctantly set him back on his feet. Joren took his sweet time dusting himself off as Rowen glared daggers. 

"All right, I let you go now tell me what you did with Alecie!" Rowen said fighting to control his urge to strangle the man. 

"If you follow me. I will take you to her." He said. The Ronins looked at him with distrust. 

"Why should we believe you?" Anubis questioned. 

"What other choice do you have? You can either follow me or not it's up to you, but if you don't then what chance do you have of finding her on your own?" he pointed out with an evil grin. The Ronins and cloudrunners gathered together in a circle. 

"I say we follow him." Rowen said. "What other choice do we have?" 

"What do you think King Tallas?" Ryo asked. King Tallas thought for a moment. 

"Let us do as he says for now. What do we have to lose?" King Tallas straighten up after giving his answer. 

"Fine! We will follow you." 

"But if you don't take us to her, so help me I'll…" Rowen began but Joren cut him off. 

"Relax lover boy. I'll take you to her, but under one condition. Only the Ronins and the King may come." 


	27. chapter twenty six

Rowen kept a close watch on Joren as they followed him through the starry sky. 

_'Alecie better be alright.'_ He thought as they came closer to Skybax City. Joren landed lightly in front of the palace. He turned to face them as the Ronins and King Tales landed behind him. 

"She is this way." He said as he led them into the dark castle. Instead of leading them to Alecie's room, he led them down a flight of stairs that entered into the dungeon. Joren stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face them.

"Well…Where is she?" Rowen asked. 

"Wait here until I get back." He said. He then left as the group sat down. 

"This is ridiculous." Cye said. 

"I know but it's the only chance we have at getting Alecie back." Rowen answered. The group nodded, they all knew how much Rowen liked Alecie, even the king knew, and he wasn't too happy about it either. The group continued to discuss their current situation when Sakura thought she heard a sound. She stood up as Ryo looked at her curiously. 

"What's wrong?" he asked her. Sakura slowly shook her head. 

"I thought I heard something." She said staring into the dark passageway. She moved toward the passageway as Ryo got up too.

"Let me come too." He said as she turned to face him. 

"No, I won't be long, just a quick look." She said. Ryo shook his head. 

"No, we can't take any chances." He said. 

"Ryo, I'm not going that far. Just a quick look and I'll be right back. I don't need you to protect me all the time." She said with a hint of aggravation in her voice. Ryo took a step back but said nothing.  Sakura was still upset with her escort rule and she was determined to go alone.

"Be careful, and don't be gone long." He warned as Sakura nodded her head. 

"I won't and I'll call you if I find anything." She said with a smile. Ryo gave her a weak smile in return as she walked into the tunnel. She looked to the right and left, trying to see in the semidark. 

_'I know I heard something.' _She said as she walked farther into the tunnel. _'It sounded like voices. I could have sworn one of them was Alecie.'  She walked farther and was about to turn back when she saw Alecie standing in a corner. _

"Alecie!" Sakura said as she ran over to the princess. "Are you okay?" Alecie said nothing as she reach out and thrust a white cloth in Sakura's face. Sakura struggled as the smell of either knocked her unconscious. She slumped forward as Alecie soundlessly caught her. She set the female warrior up against the wall when Broadway appeared from an adjoining tunnel, holding the red gem. 

"Good work." He said causing the red crystal to glow as the figure of Alecie dissipated to reveal Joren. 

"Now that we have her, what is next?" he asked. 

"You know where to take her." He said as Joren picked her up. 

"Now all I have to do is meet you there with Ryo and the others." 

"That shouldn't be too hard." Joren said with a smirk. Broadway gave a grin as he snatched Sakura's blue crystal from around her neck. 

"What do we do with the princess?" Joren asked as he turned to leave. 

"We have no more use for her." He said. "Meliara should have her in the room already; the Ronins can have her for all I care."

"Why don't you just perform your little ceremony on her now?" Joren asked. 

Broadway smirked. "Because I want Ryo to see it. I want to see the look on his face when she attacks him, when she turns her back on him."

"You must really hate him." Joren commented. 

"Ryo and his stupid armor of the inferno. He will not win this time. I'm going to make sure of that!"

 Joren nodded as he turned and left with Sakura, disappearing into the dark. Broadway watched them go as he left to go and meet the Ronins. 


	28. chapter twenty seven

The group sat impatiently waiting for Joren to come back. Ryo more impatient than even Rowen. 

_'Poor, Sakura. This whole escort thing had really hit her hard. I just hope she doesn't get herself into trouble trying to prove herself.'_ Ryo's eyes constantly flitted to the passageway that she had left through. But his attention was suddenly preoccupied as a sinister laugh filled the air. The group stood up, looking around and on guard. Broadway walked in the room and gave them a smirk. 

"Broadway." Rowen said in a low tone. Broadway smiled. 

"I'm so happy to hear that you all remember me." He said evenly. 

"Where is Alecie!" Rowen demanded. Broadway held up his hand. 

"Don't worry young Ronin. She was just the bait used to get you here. I have no further use for her. You can have her back if you wish." He said calmly. 

Rowen looked a bit startled as the king spoke up. 

"If it was not my daughter you were after, then who?" he asked. Ryo's eye widened as an ugly feeling knotted in his stomach. 

"If you want Sakura, you're going to have to get by me first." He said stepping forward, hoping that Broadway wouldn't notice she was missing. Broadway smirked as he held out his fist. He opened his hand as Sakura's blue crystal necklace dangled from his fingers. 

"I already have her." He said. Ryo's eyes narrowed in anger as he charged. Broadway disappeared into thin air as Ryo searched the room frantically for him. 

"If you want to find your wife, Ryo, follow me." His voice said floating through the air as an image of Sakura's face hung in the air in the tunnel heading toward the west. Ryo spared no time as he ran down the tunnel, the others right after him. 

"Ryo, what about Alecie!" Rowen asked running beside him. Ryo didn't answer as he ran down the passageway. 

"Ryo!" Rowen tried again. 

"The are probably keeping her with Sakura!" he yelled back. "If you want to go off on your own to look for her then go, but I'm going to find my wife!" Ryo said determined as Rowen closed his mouth. 

Ryo was more than likely right, but it didn't make sense to him. Why would they go through so much trouble to kidnap Sakura and Alecie just to tell them where they hid them. Rowen wasn't the only one to notice this. 

"Why are they leading us to them?" Dais asked. 

"It's more than likely a trap." Anubis answered. 

"And we are falling into it why?" Sage asked. 

"What other choice do we have?" Ryo asked angrily. "If you have any better suggestions please tell me now!" The other kept their mouth shut. Broadway continued to string them along, alternating the images of Alecie and Sakura to keep them going in the right direction. 

"He's taunting us." Rowen commented with a growl. Finally, after many twists and turns they entered in to a large room. The room was lit by torchlight giving the room an eerie glow. The only ways out of the room was the way in and an archway at the far end. In the middle of the room was a medium sized platform, and on the platform lay…

"Sakura!" Ryo said rushing up to her. He was stopped about two feet away from the platform by an invisible wall. Ryo pounded on it, trying to break through when he saw Joren, Meliara, Broadway, and a chained Alecie come through the archway. 

"Come now, Ryo. Did you really think I was going to make it that easy?" Broadway asked with a chuckle. 

"Alecie! Are you okay?" Rowen yelled to her. 

"I'm fine." She answered as Rowen gave a sigh. _'Thank God.' He thought. Broadway made a gesture with his head as Joren unchained Alecie. He then propelled her forward and pushed her though the barrier. Alecie stumbled as Rowen caught her and held her close. _

"I'm so sorry." He murmured in her ear. 

"It's ok. I'm fine." She said. She let go of Rowen and ran to give her father a hug which he gladly received. 

"What do you want with Sakura?" Ryo demanded to know. 

"I want to rule the world, and she will help me." He said. 

"Do you really think Sakura would do that?" he scoffed. Broadways smile deepened as he took the red crystal out of his pocket and showed it to the Ronins. 

"She will in a minute." He said. 

"That's the crystal on the shadowrunners forehead." Cale pointed out. The others gave a gasp of agreement. 

"That was what Seriyu and him were after the entire time. They wanted the crystal, not the shadowrunner." Cye said.

"The shadowrunner must have been another guardian." Dais concluded. 

"You are correct and you will pay for your ignorance." Broadway said as he held up the crystal. It glowed a bright red as a gigantic red hand formed next to him. The hand moved toward the unconscious Sakura as Ryo tried again to break through the barrier. 

"Sakura!" he cried as the hand stopped over her. Broadway locked eyes with Ryo, giving him a evil victorious glare as the hand grabbed Sakura right where her heart was located. Sakura, even though unconscious, gave a scream of pain; her golden eyes opening, as the hand roughly pulled out of her. Ryo banged his fists on the barrier as it held fast, he watched in horror as the hand opened up to reveal a small round diamond surrounded by miniature glittering diamond shaped crystals. Sakura's eyes became pupiless as the red hand brought the mysteriously floating crystal over to Broadway. He grinned as he took the crystal from the hand, the hand disappearing as the crystal suspended in his open palm showering his face with brilliant colors. 

"Do you know what this is, Ryo?" he asked. "This is a heart crystal, to be more precise, Sakura's heart crystal. She can't live without it." Ryo clenched his fists in anger as his eyes narrowed dangerously. 

"Don't worry, I'll give it back. But only after I have…fixed it." He said.  He took the red crystal in one hand and Sakura's heart crystal in the other. He slowly brought the two together as the room filled with crackling red energy. Sakura's pure looking crystal suddenly started to turn a devilish purple and black. It lost it's sparkle as Ryo glared in anger and horror. Once the red energy stopped and the red crystal in Broadways hands stopped glowing; Sakura's heart crystal was almost completely black except for the small diamond in the middle, a creepy violet glow surrounding it. Broadway then extended his hand toward Sakura as her heart crystal floated through the room to return to it's rightful place. It hovered for a second above her before sinking back into her heart. Sakura's pupiless eyes opened wide in pain as she screamed, the pupil returning to her eyes. She stared expressionless at the stone ceiling as Broadway gave a victorious laugh. The barrier holding Ryo back vanished as he rushed over to Sakura. 

"Sakura?" he called out to her gently as he stood over her. Sakura's golden eyes became a shade darker as her gaze shifted from the ceiling to him. She narrowed her eyes as she pushed him away. Ryo looked at her shocked as she sat up. 

"Sakura.." he tried again as he touched her arm. Sakura glared daggers as she shot a blast of  dark energy at him. Ryo hit the opposite wall as the others gasped in shock. Sakura slowly stood up and walked over to Broadway. She stood next to him as he gave a triumphant glance at Ryo who stood up. 

"Sakura" he said sadly as he looked at her, question and sadness showing in his blue eyes. Sakura returned Ryo's look with a cold glare as Meliara, Broadway, and Joren left the room. Sakura then turned her back to Ryo and left as well. 

"Sakura! NO!" Ryo cried as he rushed after her. Brick filled the archway they had left through, preventing Ryo from going after his wife. Ryo sunk to his knees. 

"SAKURA!"

A.N.- Ok, the whole heart crystal thing was from Sailor Moon, so that is not an original idea of mine. Just letting you all know so that I'm not sued. But I liked the idea of it so I used it. And things may not be really clear right now as to what just happened but  it will all be explained later. And also this chapter took me forever to write so it would be nice if I got a lot of  reviews! Wink wink. ^_^ 


	29. chapter twenty eight

Ryo sank to his knees, eyes wide in shock. _'Sakura, what did he do to you? It was like you didn't even know me.' The others stood silently behind him, stunned. Sakura had just attacked Ryo, and then left him. Sage walked up to Ryo as he put a hand on his shoulder. _

"We will get her back Ryo." He said. 

"What was that jewel that he was holding?" Alecie said breaking the silence. 

"It belonged to Talpa. He hid it down below his castle, and Broadway got it." Rowen explained. Alecie thought hard for a minute. 

"I think I have seen that crystal before." She said slowly. They all looked at her in surprise as she suddenly straightened her shoulders. 

"Yes! I know I have. Quick we must hurry back to Star Keeper City." She said suddenly as she started to leave the room. 

"Why?" Rowen asked confused. 

Alecie turned to face them. "We can still save Sakura, I know it. We have to get back to Star Keeper City; we don't have a lot of time." Ryo instantly stood up.

"Are you sure?" he asked hopefully. 

Alecie nodded. "If that crystal is what I think it is… then we still have a chance, but we have got to hurry." Ryo nodded as they all managed to find their way out of the palace. Once outside they all spread their wings and flew toward Star Keeper City.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Sakura sat with a bored expression as she stared at Broadway. Broadway was delighted; this was going much better than he had planned. The look on Ryo's face was priceless and then him sealing up the wall behind them so he couldn't follow just made it even better. Meliara and Joren continued to study Sakura, amazed that Broadway had been able to do as he had promised, turn her against Ryo. 

"So now what?" Meliara asked breaking the silence. Broadway grinned.

"We start our take over." He said simply leaning back in his chair. "But first we have a little pest control problem to deal with." He added as he looked over at Sakura. 

Sakura matched his gaze evenly, her normally sparkling golden eyes darker. Her outfit had changed to an almost entirely black outfit. With a black tank top and black pants. She gave a small smirk as she created a dark energy orb in her hands. 

"Don't worry; with out me the Ronins can not use the armor of the inferno." She said as she played with the orb. "It is now just a simple matter of when and where you want to kill them." 

"They are probably heading back to Star Keeper City." Joren commented. 

"Then we will just have to head there." Meliara said as she stood up. The others followed suit as they walked to the door, when Sakura spoke up. 

"I just want to tell you pathetic excuses for fighters one thing before we go." She said coldly as they turned to look at her. 

"You can do whatever you wish with the Ronins, but Ryo is mine." She said. Broadway clenched his fists. 

"Sorry, but I have already claimed that right." He said. Sakura tossed him a withering glare; she clenched her fists as they crackled with black magical energy. 

"You dare argue with me?" she asked. "I am the daughter or Talpa, and I am in charge of this little take over. So you will do as I say." Meliara and Joren looked from Broadway to Sakura as the two shot daggers at each other. Broadway continued to returned her glare before breaking away. 

"Fine. Have it your way." He said offhandedly. Sakura unclenched her fists as she gave a small smile of approval, satisfied that she had won that little argument. Broadway continued to move out the room as he glared at Sakura's back. 

_'She may be the daughter of Talpa.'_ He thought with a curse. _'And she may think that she is leading this little operation, but no one is going to take my victory away from me, not even her. I will be the one to kill Ryo.' Broadway gave a grin as they made it outside. Sakura spread her wings and took off into the sky, the others following close behind her. _


	30. chapter twenty nine

Alecie led the ronins and her father through the torn down palace. 

"Where are we going?" Rowen asked. 

"To the archives. I only hope that what we are looking for wasn't destroyed." She answered as they rounded a corner. After a few more turns they stopped in front of a set of doors. 

"Well, the doors are still here, that is a good sign." She said as she pushed open the door. Sunlight from behind them filtered into the dusty room as they walked in. Unlike the other rooms of the palace, when Broadway attacked this room remained untouched. Alecie walked inside and looked around the massive room. Books of all shapes, sizes and colors lined the walls that reached to the ceiling. There was a fireplace a few chairs and a couch for reading as well as a few desks. 

Alecie went to the first wall and quickly began scanning the titles of the books for the one she was searching for. 

"Do you need some help?" Sage asked. 

"Nope." Alecie said straightening up. "Found it." She said triumphantly. Everyone crowded around her as she flipped to the appropriate page. 

"Here it is." She said as she ran her finger down the page. 

"The Chaos Ruby." She said reading aloud from the text. "The chaos ruby is a very powerful gem that has many abilities, depending on the strength of the owner. It has the ability to increase the power of the owner ten fold. It also allows the owner to control a person. A person who is controlled will have a small diamond shaped mark on the side of their neck, and will not disappear until the owner chooses to release them…" Alecie scanned the page until she came to the part concerning Sakura. 

"The chaos ruby also has the ability to take out a person's heart crystal. Once the heart crystal is out of the body, the owner of the chaos ruby can turn even the purest of hearts into evil as long as there is some evil in them." 

"That must be why he went after Sakura." Anubis said. "He figured that since she was Talpa's daughter that some of his evil must have passed down to her."

"But," Alecie said still reading. "They will not be fully consumed until after four days have passed. The only way to rid the person of this evil is by the chaos ruby itself or the use of another magical gem. But until then, the person will slowly become more hard hearted and care nothing about anyone except themselves, but will every now and then show glimpses of who they really are." 

"So let me get this straight." Ryo broke in as Alecie stopped reading. "Sakura was turned evil because her father was and it passed down to her." Alecie nodded. 

"And the only way to get her back to the way she was is too find another magical gem and fix her or get back the chaos ruby." Alecie nodded.

"Well, then lets get that ruby." He said. 

"Do you really think that it going to be that easy?" Dais asked him. 

"I don't care. I'm going to get back." Ryo said defiantly. 

"Wait, what did it say about another magical gem?" King Tallas asked. Alecie looked at the book. 

"It says that the effects can also be reversed by another magical gem." Alecie read. 

"Another gem…" King Tallas said thinking. 

"Do you know of another gem King Tallas?" Ryo asked. 

"There is the legend of the star brought back by the first cloudrunner king." King Tallas said. 

"But we have no idea of where it is, and only the person in the legend can open it." Alecie protested. King Tallas looked at Rowen out of the side of his eye taking in the goldenly outline on his wings. 

"But maybe someone here is that person." King Tallas said. "I do know that it is said that he hid it somewhere in the lower levels of the city." 

At that moment a loud voice interrupted their conversation. 

"Ronins!" 

Ryo turned around with a glare. "Broadway!" he said with an angry face. 

"He's probably looking for a fight." Cye said. 

King Tallas turned to them. "Alecie go and look for the star, Rowen…go with her." He said. The two nodded as they left. Ryo looked at the others. 

"Come on." He said as they went to face Broadway. 


	31. chapter thirty

Ryo and the others walked outside to face Broadway. Ryo's heart lurched when he saw Sakura, flying with them. 

"Let's end this once and for all!" Broadway shouted. "Attack!" Meliara, Joren and Sakura all charged at the Ronins. The ronins transformed into their armors as the tow forces clashed in mid air. For a while the Ronins tried to avoid any direct attacks on Sakura, but soon lost the will when she sent Cye hurtling to the ground. Thankfully Cye wasn't hurt as the battle waged on. Ryo couldn't bring himself to fight against Sakura so he fought with Broadway instead. This suited Broadway just fine and Sakura focused her attention on the others. Even without Alecie and Rowen the Ronins still greatly outnumbered Broadway and his little gang, but with the added use of Meliara, Sakura and Broadway's magic the two sides were fairly evenly matched. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rowen and Alecie ran through the halls of the palace, looking for the entrance to the lower levels of the castle. 

"Do you know where the star is hidden?" Rowen asked. 

"I have an idea, but specifically no. All I know is how to get to the lower levels. After that I'm as lost as you are." She answered. Rowen nodded in understanding as Alecie led them to a trap door on the floor. Alecie lifted the huge rug covering it as they opened the door and descended the stairs.  The two continued down the stairs until they reached the bottom. At the bottom was a large room that had tunnels leading in every direction imaginable. 

"Now where?" Rowen asked. Alecie looked helplessly around at the tunnels. 

"I don't know. I've only been in a few of them and I never went that far for fear of getting lost." She said. The two stood there for a moment, trying to decide which tunnel to take when Rowen saw a small flash of light out of the corner of his eye. 

"What was that?" he said stepping closer to the tunnel he had seen the flash in. 

"what was what?" Alecie asked looking around. 

"I saw something." Rowen said. "It came from that tunnel over there." He said. Alecie looked at the tunnel he was pointing too as she shook her head. 

"There isn't anything down that tunnel." She said offhandedly turning her attention away. "I've been down that one and I never saw anything." 

"But I could have sworn I saw something…" Rowen protested. "And besides weren't you the one that said that you hadn't looked very far down these?" 

"well…yes…" Alecie said. "But…"

"Then come on, lets look." He said as he entered the tunnel. 

"Rowen" Alecie said as she followed him. "We don't have a lot of time." 

"I know, but I could have sworn that I saw something." He said moving farther in the tunnel. Alecie looked at him with a pout as she followed, keeping her eyes open for anything. They continued along the tunnel until they came to a fork in the path. 

"Now where?" She asked somewhat self righteously. Rowen looked at the three different branches when he once again saw the tiny flash of light. 

"This way." He said leading them down the left tunnel. 

"I still haven't seen anything." Alecie said as she followed. 

"But I do, lets just keep going." He said. Alecie sighed. 

_'might as well.'_ She thought. _'I don't have any better ideas. I wonder how the others are doing.' _

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

Broadway and Ryo continued to clash swords as they fought. Broadway was glaring at Ryo as Ryo seethed with anger. 

_'If I'm going to get rid of Ryo, now is my chance to do it. But how? I can't beat him this way.'_ Then he saw it. Broadway got an evil glint in his eyes as he made a stab for Ryo's right arm. Ryo expertly dodged the attack as Broadway quickly reached out with a hidden dagger and cut the pouch holding Ryo's soaring stone. Ryo gave a gasp of shock as his wings disappeared. Broadway gave a smirk of victory as Ryo fell fast to the ground. Sakura, who was fighting Cye and Sage at the moment, saw him falling out of the corner of her eye. Without thinking her instinct kicked in as she abandoned the fight with Cye and Sage to rush to her husband's aid. Cye and Sage watched with shock as she sped past them, Sakura reached out and grabbed Ryo's hand. Ryo looked up at her at first with surprise then his face turned into a smile. 

_'I knew it.'_ He thought, Sakura looked down at him, and saw his smile. She glared as she dropped him a safe distance to the ground and sped off. Sakura flew past Broadway who was seething. 

"We're leaving." She ordered as she left without waiting to see if her orders were followed. Broadway was so angry that she had saved him that he followed her so that he could find out what in the world she was thinking. Meliara and Joren saw the two of them leave and followed. The Ronins prepared to go after them when Ryo's voice stopped them. 

"No, let 'em go."


	32. chapter thirty one

Rowen continued to lead Alecie through the underground tunnels, following the flashes of light that only he could see. 

"How much farther do you think it is?" Alecie asked as she ran beside him.

"I have a feeling that we are almost there." He said as they rounded a corner and halted to a stop. They were at a dead end. 

"Now what?" Alecie asked putting her hand against the stone wall to see if it maybe moved. Rowen looked around. 

"I don't know." He admitted. He scanned the walls, floor and ceiling for any sign of where to go next. 

"Well Lecie." He said with a sigh. "I think you were right. There isn't anything down here. I led us on this wild goose chase for nothing." Alecie reached out and took his hand. 

"No, if you said you saw something then you must have. We just have to find out what." She said supportingly. Rowen gave her a smile as Alecie felt her cheeks redden. She quickly dropped his hand and pretended to search the wall again for clues. Rowen stared at her for a few moments when he saw it. 

"Lecie, look." He said moving to a corner. Alecie turned to look at the corner as she gasped in surprise. 

"It's a crack." She said moving closer. Rowen bent down to try to see through the crack in the corner. 

"I think that there is something behind this wall." He said standing back up. 

"So how do we get there?" she asked. Rowen transformed into his armor and took out his bow. He moved Alecie behind him to shield her as he fired a charged arrow at the crack. The arrow hit the corner showering the two with dust and stone as Rowen stood over Alecie protectively. Once the dust settled the two gasped as they walked into a large room. The room was adorned with pictures of every king the cloudrunners had. 

"The kings of our past." Alecie said looking at the pictures. 

"Look, here is your father." Rowen said pointing to a picture of King Tallas and his wife. Alecie smiled as she touched the portrait. The picture swung open as Alecie gave a muffled cry of shock. Behind the picture was a family tree. 

"Look," Alecie said looking intently at the family tree. 

"Here is a picture of Marcus." She said pointing to a picture of Marcus and a woman standing next to him. 

"Who is the girl he is next to?" Rowen asked. 

"That is Naomi." Alecie said. "She is Marcus's betrothed." 

"Why haven't I seen her around the hideout?" Rowen asked looking at her. 

"She lives on another cloudrunner colony. Marcus goes to see her a lot, but she comes to visit us every now and then." Alecie explained. 

"When did he take this photo?" Rowen asked noting that it looked like it was done recently. 

"Never." She said. "When a member of the royal family is born, their photo magically appears. And then when they meet the person they are to marry, their fiancé will suddenly appear next to them." 

"Hey, where is your picture?" Rowen asked with a grin as he began to trace the lineage to Alecie's name. Alecie was one step ahead of him as she saw her picture and gave a gasp. She moved in front of it as Rowen gave her a pout. 

"Aww come on. I want to see." He protested. Alecie violently shook her head. 

"No, I…don't like that picture of me." She lied. Rowen grinned as he tried to move her out of the way. 

"Stop being such a girl let me see." He said as Alecie remained adamant. 

"We don't have time to look at pictures." She replied. " We have to find the star if we want to save Sakura." Rowen nodded, getting back to business.

"Right," he said as he moved away. Alecie breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to once again look at the picture, more specifically the man standing next to her. 

_'That's…that's Rowen. But, no it couldn't be. He isn't a cloudrunner, or a prince! But… these pictures are done by magic, and they have never been wrong! Is it possible that I will marry Rowen? But father…he wouldn't…would he?' _ Alecie was lost in thought when she heard Rowen call her name. 

"Yes?" she said looking up at him. 

"I think I found something." He replied.


	33. chapter thirty two

Sakura was sitting in a chair; her fingers laced together, her elbows on the table. This is where Broadway found her when he stormed into the room. 

"What the heck did you think you were doing?!" Broadway demanded of her as he slammed his hand angrily on the table. Sakura looked up at him coolly. 

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She replied leaning back in her chair. Broadway was outraged as he put his hands on the side of the chair and put his face next to hers. 

"You know exactly what I am talking about. You saved him!" Broadway said lowly emphasizing each word. Sakura met his glare head on as she challenged him with one of her own. 

"You tried to kill him." She replied. "I am the only one who will kill him. I have told you he is mine and I refuse to let some one like you take that away from me." She said standing up and pushing past him as Meliara and Joren came in to watch the fight. Broadway looked at her as his eyes narrowed. 

"That's not the reason you saved him." He said as Sakura whirled around, fire in her eye. 

"What?" she hissed. 

"Admit it. You still love him." Broadway said advancing on her. "That's why you wanted to kill him, you didn't really want to kill him, you wanted to protect him!"

Sakura crossed her arms. "That isn't possible, you were the one that made me this way, remember?" she said scoffing. "You and that Chaos ruby you stole from my father's castle. Yes, I know what it is." She said in response to his look of surprise. 

Broadway replaced his look with one of contempt. "Then you and I both know that until your transformation is complete you will still love Ryo. Only after the fourth day will you forget that and then you will truly be unstoppable, but until then I am in charge and I will be the one to kill Ryo."

Sakura moved until her face was right next to his. "Not while I'm around." She threatened. 

"I will not let you ruin this, if you get in my way next time we fight, I will kill you myself, I don't care if you are the daughter of Talpa or not." Broadway said as a warning. Sakura turned and stormed out of the room as Broadway watched her leave. Once Sakura was gone Meliara and Joren walked further into the room. 

"Well, seems like someone is having trouble keeping everything under control." Joren taunted as Meliara watched her brothers reaction. 

"Save it, Joren." Broadway said scowling. "We have to wait for a couple more days until we attack the ronins again."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Meliara spoke up. 

"As soon as the fourth day is up, the very center of her heart crystal will turn black and then she won't have an qualms about Ryo dying." Broadway said. 

"We just have to keep her under control until then."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura stalked through the floating castle that used to belong to Seriyu. She found an empty room as she closed the door with a slam. She sank to the floor holding her head. The very center of her heart crystal was still good and the evil greatly outweighed it, but when Ryo had been in trouble, her world has stopped as all she could think about was making sure nothing happened to him. Her heart was slowly turning evil because of what Broadway had done, but for now there was still a part of her that was good and she was trying desperately to stay that way. She rested her head on the wall as she closed her eyes.

_'Ryo'_


	34. chapter thirty three

Rowen and Alecie looked at the carving on the far side of the wall. What looked like a different language was written on the square panel. 

"Can you read that?" Rowen asked. Alecie bent forward as she looked at the writing. 

"It's an old form of cloudrunner language. We used it when we were slaves on the earth. That language has been dead for a long time, but I think I can still read it."  She bent closer as she began to read aloud. 

"For when the star's light is needed most, find the two who can open the door. One who is one with the sky but lover of the earth, and the other who is prince of wings, but walker of land." 

"Where are we going to find those two?" Rowen asked as Alecie stood up. She stared at the panel lost in thought, before she turned to face Rowen. 

"I've already found them." She said quietly. 

"Well, then lets hurry and go get them." He said as he started to head out back the way they had come in. 

"Lecie?" he asked calling her name when she realized that she wasn't following him. 

"They are right here." She said slowly lifting her eyes to look at him. It was finally time to tell him about his wings. Rowen looked at her curiously as he walked back to her. 

"What? I don't understand." He said. 

"We are the two to open the door." She said looking at him. 

"But how? I mean we need a prince of the sky and…" Rowen began as Alecie but him off. 

"You are." She said quietly. Rowen was speechless as Alecie stepped closer to him. 

"I have something to admit to you." She said softly "When you asked me about your wings, I lied. Your wings have the golden outline, that symbolizes royalty. You have the wings of royalty."

Rowen stared at her, stunned. "But…I can't be royalty. I mean your wings have a silver lining, and nowhere in my lineage have I had royalty." Alecie shook her head. 

"It doesn't matter." She said. "And my wings have the silver outline because I'm a girl. You are the person in the legend. A prince of the sky, but a walker of land." 

"And what about the other person?" Rowen said slowly. 

"That's me." She said. ""I am a cloudrunner, therefore I am one with the sky." 

"And what about the other part? Lover of the earth?" 

"I'm a lover of the earth because that is where you are." She said as Rowen's eyes widened in shock and hope at what she was implying. 

"The picture that I didn't want you to see. The person who was standing next to me, the man I'm supposed to marry is you. I love you, Rowen." She said Rowen reached out and pulled her close. 

"I love you too, Lecie." He whispered as he tilted her chin up and kissed her. Alecie kissed him back as she put her arms around his neck. She didn't care that he wasn't a cloudrunner, or that her father probably wouldn't approve, she loved him and that was all that mattered. Rowen broke the kiss as they turned to face the panel. They looked at each other and both put a palm on the panel and pushed. A silver and golden light erupted around the edges as the ceiling shook. The ceiling slowly rolled back to reveal a pedal floating near the ceiling. The two flew up and gasped as they found the star. 

"It's not a star." Rowen said. "It's a diamond shaped like a star." He said as he reached out and grabbed it. The two stared at the treasure, lost in its beauty when they looked at each other again. 

"Come on, let's go and help Sakura." Alecie said as they flew back down to the ground and out the room. 


	35. chapter thirty four

Ryo looked out of his window mournfully, his chin resting in his hands. 

_'Sakura'_ was his only thought. He hoped that Alecie and Rowen could find the star, then maybe he could save her. Suddenly the door burst open as Alecie and Rowen ran inside. 

"Ryo, we have it. We have the star!" Rowen said. Ryo stood up as Rowen handed him the glittering diamond. 

"And with this we'll be able to free Sakura?" he asked. 

"I hope so." Alecie said. "There is only one problem, none of us have magic, and you need magic to operate it." 

"Then there was no use in finding it." Ryo said sitting back down. He turned to stare back out the window as a memory flashed through his head. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Flashback*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Broadway smirked as he held out his fist. He opened his hand as Sakura's blue crystal necklace dangled from his fingers. 

"I already have her." He said. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*End Flashback*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Wait, Sakura's necklace." He said. Rowen looked at him curiously. 

"What?" 

"Remember? Broadway took her necklace to show that he had her. And when we fought against them, she wasn't wearing it. Maybe it is back at Skybax City." Ryo suggested.

"If that's true then we can use Sakura's own magic to help her." Rowen said. 

"Come on, let's get the others and go find it." Alecie said as they ran out of the room. 

A while later Ryo landed at the entrance to the palace at Skybax City. He maneuvered his way through the castle and passageways until he got to where Sakura had laid on the platform. 

"If it's anywhere, it should be in here." He said. 

The others nodded. "Spread out and look. Give a shout if you find it." Cale said. They all scattered looking around the room. Ryo was the one to find it, hidden in a corner near where Broadway and Sakura had left. 

"I found it." He said as he held it up. The blue crystal dangled from the chain, it glowing slightly with magic. 

"Do you think that you can use it?" Alecie asked. Ryo placed the necklace around his neck as the crystal glowed brighter. 

"I think I can," he said as they left the room. 

"Now where are we going?" Kento asked. 

"I have no idea. They could be anywhere." Ryo admitted as they walked outside. The group sat down idly, trying to think of what to do now. Alecie leaned her head back against the wall as she saw a strange shape floating in the distance.

"Hey, what is that?" she said aloud. Everyone looked to what she was pointing at as Ryo stood up. 

"I think that is Seriyu's castle." He said. 

"It floats?" Dais asked. Ryo nodded. 

"That was where he kept me when we switched bodies." Ryo said. Alecie looked at him.

"You what?" she asked. Ryo shook his head. 

"Long story." He said as Alecie shrugged and gave a sigh. 

"How did I know that was going to be the answer?" She muttered. 

"Come on, I bet that is where they are." He said as they took of toward the castle.


	36. chapter thirty five

Ryo flew toward the castle his eyes narrowed in determination. 

'_I'll save you Sakura. I promise.'_ He thought as he landed lightly outside the back wall. The others landed next to him as he silently led them toward a side entrance. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura was kneeling on the floor, her head leaning against the wall. Sakura was so lost in thought she didn't hear the opening of a side door as Ryo and the others looked in. Motioning for them to be quiet he took out his sword and snuck up behind her. 

_'Sorry about this. I wouldn't do it if it wasn't absolutely necessary.' _He thought as he prepared to hit her on the head with the hilt of his sword. Sakura sensed something behind her as she quickly turned around. She gave a cry as Ryo knocked her out. Sakura's eyes rolled back as she slumped into Ryo's waiting arms. He gently laid her down as the door to the room burst open. Ryo and the others looked up as Broadway, Joren, and Meliara entered the room. 

"I told you I heard something." Joren said as Broadway sneered at Ryo. 

"Come to try to take your wife back?" he hissed. 

Ryo said nothing as he stood up, and faced him. 

"It's no use even trying. You'd have to have this," he said as he pulled out the red crystal. Ryo narrowed as he drew his sword. 

"Let's get it guys." He said as the ronins rushed forward. Broadway growled in anger as he fought them off. The crystal got knocked out of his hand and flew across the room. Cye caught it as he landed lightly on his feet. 

"Got it." He said as Meliara shot a blast of magical energy at him. The blast hit him in the chest causing the crystal to fly out of his hands and skid across the floor. Joren ran and scooped up the crystal as Rowen and Anubis tackled him. Joren landed with a thud, Rowen and Anubis on top of him, the crystal held out in his hand. Sage ran by and took the crystal from his hands as Broadway froze him to the spot temporarily with a touch. He then snatched the crystal away from him. This continued for a while, the ronins having the crystal and then someone taking it away. Finally, Ryo had enough. He managed to get the crystal and held it high above his head away from Meliara who was clawing at his hand to get it. Broadway saw who had the crystal as he sneered. He made a magical blast in his hand as he glared at Ryo. 

"If I can't have that crystal no one will." He said as he threw the energy at Ryo's hand. The blast hit Ryo's hand as the crystal shattered in his grasp. Broadway crossed his arms triumphantly. 

"What now Ryo?" he asked cockily. "With the crystal destroyed, you can never free her." He said as his expression turned to one of dismay when Ryo started to laugh. 

"What's so funny?" Broadway demanded to know. 

"You did exactly what we wanted you to do." Ryo said. 

"What?" Meliara asked. "Without that jewel you can't save her." 

"Yes, we can." Ryo said as he produced the diamond from his pocket. Broadway's eyes narrowed as Joren's widen in surprise.

"The star." He said in awe. 

"Like you have any magic." Meliara said. 

Ryo reached down the front of his shirt to reveal Sakura's necklace as Broadway's eyes widened. 

"How did you get that?" He stammered. "I thought.." He dropped off as he turned to glare at Joren who shrank back. 

"oops." Was all he said. 

"And now, I think that I am going to get my wife back!" Ryo said as Broadway began to laugh. 


	37. chapter thirty six

Ryo looked at Broadway as he laughed. 

"You think that you can use her magic?" Broadway asked. "You really are a fool. It isn't possible to use another person's magic, even if it is contained in something. Sakura is the only one able to use it, and nothing you can do will change that." 

Ryo looked down at the crystal then to Sakura then back to Broadway. 

_'If he's right, then we are all in big trouble. No, I can use it. I know I can.' _Ryo thought determinedly. 

"Face it Ryo." Meliara added. "There is no way that you can win. All you did was shorten your defeat." Ryo shook his head. 

"No. I will get her back. I won't let you win." He said angrily as a burst of light radiated from the crystal. Broadway stepped back as Ryo felt the familiar sensation of the forming of the armor of inferno. His red armor changed to white as Sakura's attire was transformed to match his. Broadway balled his fists in anger as he watched, desperately thinking of a way to win. Once Ryo was in the armor of inferno he held out the star diamond. The blue crystal hanging around his neck glowed as a white hand appeared from the diamond. Meliara, Joren, and Broadway gaped in surprise.

"How is that possible?!" Broadway yelled in surprise as the white hand moved toward the unconscious Sakura. The hand, as before reached for her heart. Sakura gave a cry of pain as Ryo narrowed his eyes in determination. 

_'I'm sorry,'_ he thought as the hand came back to him, holding the almost completely dark crystal. One look at the center Ryo could see that the diamond in the middle was almost completely covered in black. But In the very center of the diamond it was still clear, and in the middle was a face. 

"Who is that?" Anubis asked as they stared intently at the intricate crystal. 

"It's Ryo." Sage said. Ryo's eyes softened as he brought the diamond closer to her heart crystal. The room filled with white energy as the darkness was obliterated from the crystal. Once the transforming was completed the star diamond faded as Ryo walked over to Sakura, lovingly guarding the precious crystal in his hands. Broadway made a movement as the other ronins raised their weapons. Broadway wisely stayed put, plotting a new course of action. 

Ryo knelt down next to Sakura as he gently let the crystal return to it's rightful owner. Sakura gave another cry as the crystal returned to her heart. Once the crystal was gone, Sakura slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at Ryo as a tear slipped down her cheek. 

"Ryo, I'm so sorry." She said as she hugged him tightly. 

"It's ok." He consoled. "I'm just glad your back." He said as he returned her heartfelt embrace. Ryo then stood, helping Sakura stand as he glared at Broadway who had been inching toward the door. 

"Now it is time to meet  your end." Ryo said. Broadway smirked. 

"You may have won the battle Ryo. But the war is far from over. I will not be so easily defeated." He said as he threw a ball of energy at the ground. Thick black smoke filled the room as the ronins coughed. When the smoke cleared, Joren, Meliara and Broadway were all gone. 


	38. chapter thirty seven

Sakura stared out at the city below her as she sat atop a building. Now that Broadway was gone King Tallas had started rebuilding the city. The wind blew across Sakura's face, ruffling her hair as she watched her friends helping with repairs. She gave a wistful sigh as Ryo approached from behind. 

"What are you doing up here?" he asked as he sat next to her. She looked at him as gave a small smile. 

"Nothing." She replied. 

"Why aren't you helping?" He asked gently. Sakura turned her face away at his question. 

"Because I'm not wanted." She said softly. Ryo looked at her with a raised eyebrow. 

"What do you mean you aren't wanted?" he asked. "I want you to help us. Alecie wants you to help us. And so does Sage, and Rowen, and…" Ryo began listing off the names when Sakura interrupted. 

"No, the cloudrunners don't want me." She said. Ryo's eyes lighted in understanding now he understood. 

Even though what had happened to Sakura wasn't her fault, most of the cloudrunners still gave her the cold shoulder, even though the king had removed the escort rule. 

"Look, even if the cloudrunners don't like you it doesn't matter. I know and the others know that you really didn't mean to fight against us. It wasn't your fault." He said. 

"It's never my fault." She said suddenly as Ryo looked at her surprised. 

"What?" 

"It's always someone else doing something to me. It was Seriyu who stole the crystal and it was Broadway who used it on me. It may not be my fault, but I'm still the one paying the consequences." She said sullenly. "I still have my father's reputation, and because of that stupid chaos ruby, it just made the cloudrunners believe that I am like my father."  

"Then you have to work and show them that you aren't." Ryo said. 

"I have, but it's no use." She replied bitterly. 

"Then stop whining." Ryo said as Sakura looked at him. 

"You can't just give up. You can never have universal popularity. There is always going to be someone who doesn't like you. But you can't just assume that there isn't anything you can do to try to change their opinion. You can still show them that you are different than your father." 

Sakura thought about what Ryo had said as she nodded with a smile. 

"Your right." She said standing up. "Thanks Ryo." 

Ryo gave her hand a squeeze. "Anytime." He said as the two flew down to help their friends. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A few days later the king held a ceremony for the Ronins. 

"I on behalf of all cloudrunners would like to thank the Ronin Warriors for their help in defeating Broadway." The crowd of cloudrunners gave a cheer as King Tallas held up his hand for silence. 

"And because of their help, I now declare the Ronins honorary cloudrunners. And as proof, each Ronin will have their own soaring stone and be welcome at any cloudrunner city." The crowds gave another cheer as Ryo stepped forward. 

"You honor us greatly King Tallas. On behalf of the Ronins, we thank you." He said as he gave a bow. "But as much as we have enjoyed our stay, I believe it is time for us to go back home."

"Feel free to come back anytime." King Tallas said as the Ronins moved to leave. Alecie watched from beside her father as Ryo and the others left, her eye on Rowen. She felt a prick behind her eyes as she tried not to cry, but she had to stay, and she had told him that last night. She may not be next in line to rule, but her people may still need her and she was bound to her people. Besides, once again her father would never approve. She bit her lip to keep from crying as Rowen gave her another look. She waved goodbye as he rose in the air with the others and soared out of sight. King Tallas watched his daughter's reaction as Rowen flew away. 

"You love him don't you?" He asked her as Alecie turned to look at him surprised. She gave a muted nod as King Tallas smiled. 

"Then what are you waiting for? Go with him." 

Alecie's mouth hung open in shock. "But….but what about my people and what if Marcus needs my help and what about…" she started to stutter as her father put a hand on her shoulder. 

"Lecie, you are not next in line to rule, your brother is. And while I would enjoy you staying here with your mother and I forever, I won't hinder you from the man you love, even if he is an earthwalker." Alecie smiled as she hugged her father. 

"Thank you daddy." She said as he kissed her forehead. 

"Feel free to come home and visit." He said as Alecie nodded as kicked off from the ground, flying fast in the direction she had seen Rowen go. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sakura and the others looked back at Rowen who was trailing behind, looking despondent as the city grew smaller in the distance. 

"Hey, cheer up." Sage said. "We're going home. I thought you wanted to go home." 

"I did, but it's just not the same without her." He said as the others looked at each other unsure how to comfort him. 

"Come on, we need to hurry if we are going to make it home before nightfall." Ryo said as they sped up. "You coming Rowen?" he asked when he noticed that his friend was falling behind. 

"You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up later." He said. Ryo nodded as they soared off, leaving Rowen alone with his thoughts. Rowen landed on top of a mountain peak as he stood on the edge, looking back in the direction of the cloudrunner city. He heard footsteps behind him as he kept his eyes straight ahead. 

"Guys, please, I just want to be left alone." He said. 

"Then I'll wait," a female voice said as he whirled around. 

"Lecie?" he asked as Alecie walked toward him. "But, I thought that you had to stay there. I mean you said…." Alecie cut him off as she placed a finger to his lips. 

"You were next to me in my picture. Those pictures are never wrong, and who am I to argue with destiny?" she asked as Rowen smiled and hugged her to him, kissing her soundly on the lips.

A.N.- that is the end of Wings in the Sky and I hope you all enjoyed the story. I don't know when I am going to get my next one out, but I will try to get it out soon. So please R&R and tell me what you thought of the story and the ending and any questions be sure to ask and I will answer as best as I can. 

                                                                                                                   -vegetasgirl4eva


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